


the devil tutors calc

by laurenshappenstobemyhusband



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, M/M, Not a chat fic, Slow Burn, Third Year Kyoutani Kentarou, Third Year Yahaba Shigeru, best wingman watari, even if he doesnt know it, oikawa is mother hen, secret nerd kyoutani, yahaba be shooketh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 14:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23112574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurenshappenstobemyhusband/pseuds/laurenshappenstobemyhusband
Summary: yahaba:YOU DIDNTwatari:i did wat i had to doyahaba:you did NOT ask Kyoutani "Mad Dog" Kentarou to be my tutorwatari:...watari:your punctuation is on point as always yahaba
Relationships: Kyoutani Kentarou/Yahaba Shigeru, Oikawa Tooru & Yahaba Shigeru, Watari Shinji & Yahaba Shigeru
Comments: 111
Kudos: 617





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Intellectual Kyoutani! Secret genius Kyoutani! Math whiz Kyoutani! Give me all of Kyoutani being secretly smart and not telling anyone because "why does it matter if I can do math let's just play volleyball"

Being a third year, at least for Yahaba, isn't all that different than being a second year. Besides for the fact that he's captain of the volleyball team, college entrance exams are right around the corner, and for the first time ever he's _actually_ failing math _._

"Watari, I'm dying," he complains, laying down on their lunch table bench. "If I fail one more pre-calc quiz, Naomasa-sensei will kick me out and send me back to geometry."

"I thought you're supposed to be the smart one out of us," Watari says in fake surprise. He knows just as well as Yahaba that math is his worst subject. "You have that intellectual look, with those nerd bangs and your tie-"

"First off, not all of us can pull of the shaved head look," Yahaba sniffs, throwing a balled up paper towel at Watari's head. "Second of all, the tie is part of our uniform, so if anything, not wearing one makes you a juvenile delinquent."

"That's a bit of a stretch-"

"And none of this has anything to do with me failing math! I swear, you go on the biggest tangents-"

"I'm the only one keeping your life interesting," Watari cuts him off nonchalantly. "That's why you stay friends with me. Speaking of interesting..." He jerks a thumb across the yard to where Kyoutani is walking, shoulders hunched as always. "Wonder where he's going."

"Probably to drown some puppies. Who cares?" Yahaba says, throwing his trash in the garbage. "See? Another tangent."

"Tangents are geometry, not pre-calc. You really _are_ failing."

"I give up. I'll just fail off the planet, drop out of volleyball, and become a shrub."

Watari finally takes pity on him, turning his serious face on. "How about getting a tutor? People need community service hours, you need help. It's perfect."

"But who can I ask?" Yahaba asks, frowning a little as he goes over the people in his precalculus class. _No, no, definitely not, no._

"Leave that part to me. I'll find you someone."

* * *

Yahaba has no idea how Watari plans on picking someone, but he doesn't have time to worry about it. He has eight other classes to balance in his schedule, and volleyball tryouts are coming up and he has to prepare for those. They get five new first years, and only one of them is anything special, but they have plenty of time to train them up and make them great. 

Two weeks into spring training, Watari approaches him with a devious smile.

"I found you a tutor," he says simply. "It's Monday, so we don't have practice today. So... you're meeting him in the library right after school. It's all arranged."

"That's really nice of you," Yahaba says, narrowing his eyes. "What's the catch?"

"The catch?" Watari can feign innocence for only a second before the grin returns. "There is no catch. I just want my very best friend in the world to pass pre-calculus. Is that so surprising?"

"Yes. What's the catch?"

"Just meet up with him once. If you don't want to continue, then I'll understand."

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" But Watari's lips remain sealed for the rest of the day on the matter, only snickering to himself when Yahaba pleads with him for more details. It's only out of sheer desperation that Yahaba wearily approaches the library, textbook in hand.

The library is practically empty, with the only people around being two second years working on a project, and the librarian herself.

Oh, and Kyoutani, reading a book at one of the tables. Yahaba walks past him extra quietly, hoping to the gods that he wouldn't be noticed. By a miracle, he made it to a different table without a single callout.

Then it's just a matter of waiting for his tutor to show up. He texts Watari five times, hoping for some sort of hint, but he gets nothing.

Finally, ten minutes into the visit, Watari responds to his pleas.

 **watari:** your tutors already there

 **watari:** probably really pissed too since you made him wait ten mins lmao

 **yahaba:** No he's not

 **yahaba:** The only people here are some second years and Kyoutani

 **watari:**...

 **watari:** yes

 **yahaba:** What are you

 **yahaba:** Wait

 **yahaba:** YOU DIDNT

 **watari:** i did wat i had to do

 **yahaba:** you did NOT ask Kyoutani "Mad Dog" Kentarou to be my tutor

 **watari:** your punctuation is on point as always yahaba

 **yahaba:** I'm leaving

 **watari:** noooooooo

 **watari:** give him a chance

 **watari:** hes secretly a genius i hear

 **yahaba:** Sounds fake

 **watari:** why dont u go ask him

 **watari:** byeeeee

Yahaba shuts off his phone with a frustrated huff. He has a couple of options. He can slip out and pretend none of this ever happened at volleyball practice, and _hopefully_ not be the subject of Kyoutani's unbridled rage. Or he could tell Kyoutani he doesn't need help in the end, but thank you for offering.

Or...

No, he can't even think of the third option. It's too gruesome, too masochistic. Yahaba would rather die than ask Kyoutani for help. But... if he can really help him pass his next test... maybe...

No! His mind is growing softer by the second. He abruptly stands up to leave, causing his chair to squeak loudly against the floor. Four pairs of eyes turn to him in annoyance, but only one pair actually stays on him.

_Great. Guess I'll die._

Instead of calling him out on being late, Kyoutani looks confused. 

"Where's Watari?" he asks, looking around the room.

"Probably at home," Yahaba answers, equally confused. "Why?"

"I'm supposed to tutor him in pre-calculus. He asked me after practice last week."

A million alarm bells ring off in Yahaba's head, but one of them is louder than the rest. "And you said yes?"

"Yeah, why not?" Kyoutani asks, like _Yahaba_ is the one being weird. "You think I'm too dumb to tutor someone?"

 _Maybe._ "No, I just can't imagine you doing something nice for someone," he answers honestly, because that's the main reason he was suspicious of all of this. Kyoutani volunteering to help a teammate out without getting anything in return reeks of ulterior motives. "I'm guessing you need the community service hours?"

"Finished those in the first month of school," Kyoutani sniffs. "I don't like leaving things for last minute."

"So why..." Yahaba let's himself trail off, shaking his head abruptly. "Whatever. I feel bad making you wait here, so I have to tell you that Watari's not coming. He also takes calculus, not pre-calc."

He can see the pieces come together in Kyoutani's mind. He opens his mouth, probably to ask what the fuck, but his eyes catch sight of Yahaba's pre-calculus textbook in his arms, and his mouth snaps shut. He looks almost betrayed, which is just how Yahaba felt five minutes prior. Guess they have something in common after all.

"Pretty stupid set-up," he mutters, grabbing his bag. Yahaba gapes at him. 

"So you're just gonna leave?" he asks ignoring for the moment that he was just planning on doing the same thing. It's been quite a while since he felt nervous about confronting Kyoutani. He doesn't feel like biting his tongue quite yet.

"You look just as happy about this as I am. Why should I stay?"

"Because..." Yahaba has no idea. He doesn't even _want_ him to stay. So why is he fishing for excuses? "Because I'm failing math. And I need a tutor. And apparently you're smart."

Kyoutani pauses, bag half slung over his shoulder. "I'm listening."

"What do you mean?" Yahaba practically squawks. "That's it. I'm failing and I need a tutor. If you don't want to do it, then you can go."

"Jeez, you're always a fun time," Kyoutani mutters. "World's fastest emotional rollercoaster."

"Look who's talking!"

"At least I'm consistently pissed off. You're just insane!"

The librarian shushes them, and they both apologize in unison, turning back to glare at each other a second later.

"Do you want my help or not?" Kyoutani asks, while at the same time Yahaba asks, "Do you want to help me or not?" This leads to another round of silent glaring, which Yahaba is mature enough to break for both of their sakes.

"I'm desperate enough to ask politely. Can you tutor me please?"

"It's not really polite when you phrase it like that," Kyoutani mutters under his breath, but he puts his bag back on the table. "Fine. I'll help you on one condition."

"Go for it."

"I'll tutor you once a week, and in exchange I want to practice spiking extra once a week after practice. And none of that lazy ass setting you used to do when Oikawa pissed you off."

His request leaves Yahaba speechless once again. _You'd think he would want to spend the least amount of time with me possible._ But, a deal is a deal, and he feels like he's getting the better end of it regardless. He doesn't fail math and he gets to practice extra. If he's being honest, he was looking for someone to practice with, since Watari is a libero and all. 

"Sure," he finally says, sticking out a hand to shake. Kyoutani snorts, surprising both of them.

"Next you're gonna make me sign a contract or something," he says, covering his face with his mouth. Yahaba frowns, sticking his hand in his pocket. 

"Should we start now, or...?" he asks, pulling out the chair furthest from Kyoutani. 

"I guess," Kyoutani says, face back in its trademark scowl. "Whenever you're ready."

 _I don't think I'll ever be ready._ "Now it is, then."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: says I'll update every 2 weeks  
> Also me: doesn't
> 
> But at least now I know where this is heading, so that's something!

Being tutored by Kyoutani is... weird.

Besides for the obvious weirdness of the whole situation - which cannot be denied, no matter how hard Yahaba is trying to ignore it - there's the fact that it doesn't feel like Kyoutani at all. It's like sitting next to a whole different person once he actually gets into the material, and Yahaba isn't sure if he likes it or not. 

"-so when you take the derivative, you have to drag down the exponent," he's now explaining, using the back of his pen as a pointer. "These first questions aren't so hard, you just have to remember the exponent rule."

"Who are you and what the hell did you do with Kyoutani?" Yahaba blurts out, because as loathe as he is to break this sudden calm, he feels like he's being punked. Like at any moment from now Watari will come out with a video camera and laugh at how dumb he looked. 

Kyoutani's expression goes back from the calm neutral to his usual annoyed look. "It'd be a hell of a lot easier to tutor you if you didn't try and argue with me every few seconds," he says, staring at Yahaba like _he's_ the one acting strange. "Whatever weird preppy angst you have lurking inside of you, save it for when you're not failing math."

"You're the one who's being weird," Yahaba argues. "All calm and rational and whatever."

"Would you rather I beat the information into you like a spike to the head? Do you crave verbal abuse? Masochist much? It's easier for me not to want to bash your pretty boy head in while I'm absorbed in the material, but not by much."

"You know what? I'm sorry. Please continue."

"You're even worse at this than my sister," Kyoutani mutters under his breath, and turns the page of the textbook. "Now back to exponents-"

"You have a sister?" Yahaba interrupts, ears perking up.

"You're really trying your hardest not to get anything done," Kyoutani sighs. "I have four younger sisters, and they're a lot better at being tutored than you are. Even the four year old."

"A day in the life of Kyoutani Kentarou. I'm learning more than I thought I would."

"Stop creeping around my personal life and try the damn problems!"

Yahaba laughs, grabbing his pen to start in on the questions. He's more comfortable with this Kyoutani, the one who smokes from the ears and exudes rage with every breath.

Although it might be a good idea to try and stay on his good side, given that they did agree to meet twice after school weekly just a few minutes ago. Yahaba will have to remember not to rile him up as much, for the sake of his grades as well as his physical well being. Any moment now, Kyoutani could take revenge for that time Yahaba slammed him into a wall last year and beat the shit out of him. The barely contained anger does not fare well for Yahaba.

"Done!" he chirps, passing the paper over to Kyoutani. "What do you think?"

"I think I can't read this," Kyoutani says, squinting at the page. "Do you write with your eyes closed?"

"Oh for crying out loud." He translates the entire page step by step, enunciating carefully so Kyoutani doesn't miss a single word.

"I'm not deaf," he groans at some point. "I'd rather take my chances with the devil page than listen to this anymore."

"You're so overdramatic. Naomasa-sensei is half blind and he can still read it," Yahaba says. "Maybe you need glasses. You do squint a lot."

"Maybe you need to take a penmanship class." He steals the paper back, checking it off with his pen. "You're all good except for this one. I think you mixed up a four and a nine." He smirks, circling the error in bright red. "You can't even read your own handwriting."

"Give me that!" Upon closer inspection, Yahaba's annoyed to find that he's right. "How much longer is this tutoring session?"

"Believe me, princess, I'm trying to get through this as fast as I can too." He checks his phone, laying his head on his open hand. "I have to be out of here in fifteen minutes. Do you think we can get through the rest of the lesson without you bursting out with every stray thought in your head?"

"You're the one who's bullying me," Yahaba mumbles. "And hey, did you call me princess?"

"In the meanest way possible, yes."

"I like it, it's nice."

"You can't reverse psychology your way out of being offended."

"I can and I will. Now aren't we on a time crunch?"

Kyoutani looks torn between storming out and leaving Yahaba to fail, or blocking his voice out and getting through with it. Lucky for Yahaba, he chooses the second option. It takes him a while, but he settles back into his weirdly zen studying mode, which is all the better for Yahaba. He very much doesn't feel like being throttled today.

Of course, as Kyoutani has said multiple times now, the option is still wide open, no matter how many times Yahaba says that it's kinky. Some people just refuse to be reverse-psychologied.

"In terms of how bad this could've gone, not awful," Kyoutani says once they're finished. His stuff is all packed into his bag and ready to go. "Same time next week?"

"Good with me," Yahaba says, sliding his calculator shut. "Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?"

"I'm on pickup duty today for R- for my sister," Kyoutani quickly corrects himself, slinging his bag over his shoulder. "Because of you trying your best to waste time, I'm gonna be late."

"Aw, you're making me feel bad," Yahaba whines. Kyoutani is unmoved.

"Good."

"Don't be a dick. I'll give you a ride."

Kyoutani raises an eyebrow. "You drive?"

"Not everyone is an olympian who can run everywhere driven on pure spite," Yahaba reminds him. "Come on, I'm trying to be nice for once. Take advantage of my kindness. You will probably never see it again."

"That sounds more like you." Still, he looks hesitant. "Do you have a car seat?"

 _Responsible older brother Kyoutani? Now I've officially seen everything._ "No, but I'm a very safe driver. You can hold her on your lap if you have to."

"You seem really eager to get me and my sister in your car. Are you trying to kidnap and ransom us? Because I _will_ kill you."

"You're so paranoid. If you don't want to come, then you can walk." 

Kyoutani scrutinizes Yahaba's face. _Does he really think I would kidnap him? Maybe he doesn't understand my sarcasm._

"Alright, fine," he finally says. A pause. "Thank you."

"No need to look like you're in physical pain. You're welcome."

Yahaba's car is in the Aoba Johsai parking lot, and the two of them walk there together. It's a good thing almost everyone is gone, because seeing Kyoutani sit in the passenger seat of Yahaba's car might give them then impression that the two of them are friends, which is preposterous. Nobody would understand the give and take of a good acquaintanceship.

Kyoutani gives directions to his sister's preschool, and Yahaba waits in the car while he goes inside to get her. In the meantime he puts on the radio to some popular pop song and scrolls through his texts. Ten from Watari asking how it's going, which he ignores out of spite. One from his mom asking when he'll be home, which he replies to quickly. And one from his dad asking how he's doing, which he almost responds to, then saves for later. It's a loaded question, especially since he hasn't seen him in a month.

He hears a knocking on his window and startles, but it's just Kyoutani, holding hands with the most adorable little brunette that Yahaba has ever seen. He unlocks the door for them, and Kyoutani first helps his sister into the car, then climbs in himself. 

"Yahaba, this is Rika," Kyoutani says, pulling her on his lap. "Rika, say hi." Rika stares at him for a second, then turns back to Kyoutani.

"Is he gonna drive us all the time?" she asks, and Kyoutani snorts. 

"Be nice," he says, which is such a laugh coming from him. The resemblance between Kyoutani and Rika is uncanny. Even her eyes have the same glaring manner that his do. "But yeah, he'll be driving us every Monday after school. Isn't that kind of him?"

"I-" Yahaba starts saying, then stops. _Well played, Kyoutani._ His triumphant smile screams, _Well you did tell me to take advantage of your kindness._

Instead, he smiles and says, "That's right. Kyoutani, give me directions to your house. Rika, do you have a type of music you like?"

"Welllll nii-chan likes listening to loud angry music, but I like this song," she says, and it's Yahaba's turn to laugh.

"You have good taste," he says. "Your brother likes loud and angry stuff because he's loud and angry all the time."

"And sometimes," she says, dropping into a stage whisper, "his music has cuss words in it."

"Oh-kay Rika, don't distract him," Kyoutani jumps in, putting a finger to her lips. In the rearview mirror Yahaba can see that the tips of his ears are red. "We're almost home so let's play the quiet game and listen to the music."

"I don't mind her talking," Yahaba is quick to say, and Kyoutani glares at him. Rika giggles.

"Okay nii-chan." She turns to Yahaba again. "I always win the quiet game."

"I bet you do," Yahaba says emphatically. He turns up the music a little, and the rest of the drive is spent without conversation. Whenever it looks like Kyoutani is about to speak, both Yahaba and Rika say in unison, "Quiet game," and he goes back to being silent, albeit with a drawn out eye roll. _He did bring this on himself._

Finally, he rolls up to a modestly sized house that Rika excitedly points out as "home, there, the one with the doggie in the window!" Indeed, in the top right window, Yahaba can see the face of a German Shepherd watching them from above. 

"You're free to go," Yahaba says, stopping at the curb. Rika's up from Kyoutani's lap and reaching for the door handle as soon as the car stops. "Careful, you don't want to slip."

"Rika, say thank you to Yahaba," Kyoutani says while very pointedly _not_ saying thank you himself. 

"Thank you Yaba," Rika says automatically, and starts running to the house. Kyoutani watches her, an exasperated smile playing on his face that immediately disappears when he realizes Yahaba's watching.

"Say thank you to Yahaba, Kyoutani," Yahaba says with a smile, and Kyoutani flicks him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Yaba," he says, and slams the car door behind him. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye." Yahaba waits for him to go inside, then starts the drive home. He makes a mental note to find out where he can get a car seat, then shakes his head in disbelief. 

_Maybe the responsible brother vibes are contagious._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rika is a babe. I love her. Can't wait to introduce the other 3 sisters (sometime in the future)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of the Rika love in the comments/tags. You guys get it

The first thing Yahaba does when he gets home is video call Watari. 

"So _now_ you've decided to remember me," he says when he picks up on the second ring. "Guess this means you survived. When you ignored _ten texts_ I thought you might've been murdered."

"You're awfully casual sounding for someone who thinks he sent me to be killed," Yahaba says, pacing his carpet. "But yeah, I'm alive."

"Don't leave me hanging. How did it go?"

How _did_ it go? Yahaba isn't sure if he would consider it a success or not. "In what sense?"

"Well you didn't die, and you don't sound like you're in a depressive funk, so it couldn't have been that bad. Did you learn the stuff?"

"Surprisingly yes. Don't look so smug."

"You don't have to thank me all at once," Watari says. From the looks of it, he's holding the phone in one hand while spinning a volleyball in the other. "I mean, I am the one who set the whole thing up."

"Yeah, in the most backhanded way possible. I thought you're supposed to be the nice and open one out of the two of us. I'm supposed to be the sneaky sarcastic one."

"All in a day's work. So you're meeting again next week?" 

"Yeah, but I have to drive him and his sister home. Also extra spiking practice. I'm not going to have any free time anymore."

"Cheer up. Don't you love extra practice? That's why you threatened all of us into picking you as captain. Also you can hold the fact that you met his sister over him forever. Is she like a mini Kyoutani?"

"She's like a nicer, more hilarious version of him. She might be my new favorite person. And I didn't threaten anyone except for you, and that was a joke."

Even Kyoutani had voted for him, probably riding out the last of his temporary respect from that one time Yahaba slammed him into a wall. Yahaba has a sneaking suspicion that his respect depends solely on whether you can beat the crap out of him or not. 

He hears someone call Watari's name from the other line. "I have to go eat dinner, but I'm glad I won't have to live with all of this survivor's guilt. Remember: Watari is always right."

"Bye, can't hear you, already hanging up." He ends the call in the middle of Watari's fit of laughter and groans to no one. Sure, he knows how to find a simple derivative now, but at what cost? His pride, for one, and some of the gas in his car. _Was it all worth it?_

He finds that the answer is yes, oddly enough. Not the worst way to spend an evening. Loads better than failing math, that's for sure.

His mom isn't going to be home for another hour, so he fixes himself dinner from the leftovers she made the night before. He eats then cold in front of his laptop, a pleasure he only gets when she's not there to scold him. After that he showers, does his arm exercises, and turns on some of his favorite volleyball videos.

The basketball team likes to say that all the volleyball team does is practice, plan practices, or daydream about practicing. Yahaba likes to remind them that Aoba Johsai's basketball team never makes it out of the preliminaries, and maybe they should be focused more on their own sport. That shuts them up quickly.

But in truth, as captain he finds himself spending more time than ever on volleyball. He watches videos from the other teams and relays the highlights before practice matches. He watches Olympic games and tries to copy the technique of their setters. He's nowhere near as good as Oikawa was, but he has his own things going for him. The observance that came naturally for Oikawa, he can replicate artificially. 

His mom knocks on his door at midnight and reminds him to go to sleep. He tells her he will, which gets her to go to bed, and he falls asleep himself about an hour later. He has a few history questions to do, but he can save them for breakfast. Besides, tomorrow will be even busier, since he has practice.

* * *

"Alright, children, you know the drill," Yahaba calls to the group of boys pressed against the wall. "Twenty laps, then we'll bring in the suicides. Last one done gets to do another ten laps."

"Oikawa was never this hard," Kindaichi mumbles, and Yahaba moves to stand right in front of him.

"You're right. But as much as I love Oikawa, we never went to nationals with him. As long as I have authority here, we're going to work our asses off, and if we don't make it to nationals again, at least we can say we did our best."

He hears someone cough "Power complex much?" and he doesn't have to turn to see who it was.

"Kyoutani, good to have you actually on time. You can do the extra ten laps with whoever's in last place, just to keep them company."

The blond boy blinks at him, annoyed, although probably more about being called out than having to do the laps. Yahaba knows for sure that he does extra laps before and after practice every day. It's one of the reasons he doesn't rib on Kyoutani too much for being late sometimes; he knows that he's not trying to slack off.

Unlike _some_ of these first years. Yahaba has half a mind to beat the motivation to exercise into them.

Once they're done warming up, their practice moves like a well oiled machine. Receiving drills first, with the setters being the ones to start with the balls. Then free serves for ten minutes, followed by a water break. Spiking drills with three spikers to a setter, blocking drills for everyone but the liberos, who receive the balls when they get blocked. And scrimmage for the last hour or so, with the team split up across the two courts based on who Yahaba feels works best together.

As captain, he keeps his attention spread between everyone, but he finds himself turning back to Kyoutani more often than not. Like Iwaizumi before him, he has his own fan who follows him around in awe, trying to serve or spike as well as him. Yahaba doesn't have the heart to tell the first year that Kyoutani is _not_ the type of person you want to emulate, unless you like being a grumpy loner.

Kyoutani, on his end, looks uncomfortable at all of the positive attention. Yahaba laughs and points it out to Watari, who's in the middle of fixing his kneepads and doesn't find it as hilarious as Yahaba does.

"It's good for him to bond with people on the team," he says thoughtfully. "We could go a full season without him storming out or having a fit. Who knows? Maybe that'll be our ticket to nationals."

"Hmph. I guess you're right." The thought of Kyoutani getting along swimmingly with the team feels weird, but not entirely in a bad way. He's like a surly little brother. Or older brother, since he's technically three months older than Yahaba. Hopefully a fact he'll never have to bring up to the boy himself.

He has more important things to focus on than Kyoutani playing nice. They have a practice match scheduled in a week with Johzenji. From past experience Yahaba can say that they're a good team to play for fun, not so much for practice, since they're inconsistent with their moves and are often their own downfall. _Or maybe that makes them better opponents, to prepare for the unexpected? Is that even possible?_

It'll be good experience for the first years, though, so he's looking forward to it. He's already watching old videos of them from last year's Miyagi preliminaries and taking notes (if writing _they're literally insane_ over and over can count as notes). He doesn't know how Karasuno dealt with them, but if they can do it, so can Aoba Johsai.

"Alright, let's wrap this up!" he announces when the whole team is sweaty and exhausted. "Ten more laps and you're all free to go."

"You're a monster," Kunimi says with a totally blank expression, although his eyes look betrayed and scream bloody murder. "I nominate Watari to take your place as captain."

"Come on, I'm just as tired as you guys," he says, and it's not even a lie. He can feel the sweat dripping down his back, and his arms are sore in the most satisfying way. "Imagine how great it'll be to leave this gym for the night."

"Yeah, until tomorrow." 

"Stop whining and let's get this over already." Yahaba looks in surprise to find that Kyoutani's already standing, wiping the back of his mouth with his hand. "I have shit to do, I can't stand here and watch you argue forever."

 _You're the king of arguing and wasting time,_ Yahaba wants to say, but he'll snatch this rare moment that Kyoutani's being helpful. 

"You heard the guy. Let's go."

Kyoutani's shadow quickly gets up to follow him, and the rest of the team reluctantly follows. Yahaba will be easier on them tomorrow, since they need time to get used to this more exerting training regime. Hopefully he won't have to argue against them every day. Oikawa never argued with anyone as captain; if he said do 1000 laps, no one except for Iwaizumi would complain, and even he would go along and do it. 

When they're finished with their laps, they gym gradually clears of exhausted and sweaty teenage boys. Yahaba offers Watari a ride home, but his mom is already on the way, so they wait together in the doorway of the gym.

"See you tomorrow," he calls as Watari exits, balancing his waterbottle in the crook of his arm. He turns to grab his stuff and is surprised to see Kyoutani still there. He's even more surprised to find that he's practicing his serves.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" he asks, tossing the ball to Yahaba, who catches it a second before it collides with his face. "Spiking practice. Let's go."

"Are you insane?" Yahaba asks genuinely. "I'm beat. I want to go to bed and wake up in a million years. How are you not tired?"

Kyoutani shrugs, because his freakishly strong Olympian body knows no limits. "So are you coming, or..."

"Of course not. I can barely lift my arms." Before Kyoutani can remind him of their deal, he adds, "We can do extra practice tomorrow, when my arms don't feel like noodles. I'll ease up on the running too, so I won't be exhausted and we can get a good rhythm going."

"Alright." Kyoutani doesn't look exactly happy, but he looks satisfied with the answer. "See you tomorrow."

"Uh, wait." Kyoutani pauses on his way out, looking over his shoulder in confusion. Yahaba soldiers on. "Do you need a ride? It's late."

"I walk home every night," Kyoutani replies, puzzled. "It never bothered you before."

"Yeah, but..." He can't exactly explain why he feels the need to offer. "Because of yesterday and all, I figured..."

Kyoutani raises both of his eyebrows, and a hint of a smirk appears. "Thanks for the offer, but I like walking. You're still stuck driving me and Rika home every week, though. Don't think you can weasel your way out of it."

"Forget I asked," Yahaba groans, rolling his eyes. "Bye, goodnight, whatever."

Kyoutani walks out, and Yahaba grabs his own bag, leaving Coach to lock up. He passes Kyoutani on his way down the block, and he honks his horn once to scare him. Kyoutani flips him off.

"See you tomorrow, dipshit," he calls. "And don't forget about your quiz tomorrow."

Yahaba almost stops the car in the middle of the road. "Oh god."


	4. Chapter 4

Usually, Yahaba would show up to a precalculus quiz exhausted, hungry, and dead inside, the product of all nighters without dinner and the knowledge that he'll probably fail anyway. 

Today, though, Yahaba is just the normal amount of tired and hungry. In short, he's _prepared._

"Watari, I feel alive again," he says cheerily during lunch, right before math class. He's not even looking at his notes, which is a big change from the usual cramming he'd do the period before math. He hasn't even touched his calculator in hours.

"It's weird to hear that from you, but a nice change," Watari remarks, chewing thoughtfully. "Usually it's all 'Watari, I can't anymore," or "Watari, end me right now,' or 'Watari, I'm going to go be a bush because everything is so difficult.'"

"You're ruining my good mood," Yahaba says, still smiling. "I reviewed all of my sheets last night _and_ I know all of the answers _and_ I get the concepts. It's all going up from here."

"This wouldn't be related to _Kyoutani,_ would it?" Watari asks, which gets a grimace from Yahaba out of instinct. "You know, since he's the one who tutored you and all."

"You're really working your hardest to piss me off, aren't you?"

"Not piss you off, per se. More like... admit that Kyoutani isn't the spawn of Satan so that you'll stop complaining about him in long winded rants at one in the morning when you _should_ be trying to get some sleep. I say this only as a concerned friend." Watari pokes him with a carrot stick to punctuate his point.

"I _barely-_ " He frowns, cutting himself off. "Alright, whatever. Anything I've done in the past can be forgotten now. It's good vibes time. I only want good vibes here." 

"Okay, don't be salty."

They finish lunch, and Yahaba walks to his math class alone, pencil gripped in one hand, calculator in the other. Naomasa-sensei nods in his direction when he walks in, but doesn't say anything. Yet another difference between him and Oikawa. The older boy had everyone in school, teachers included, eating out of the palm of his hand. Yahaba doesn't have any large crowds of admirers, and Naomasa-sensei is probably counting down the days until he can kick Yahaba out for good.

_Well it's not happening this week, sensei. Because I'm prepared._

He doesn't know every answer - Kyoutani might be smart, but he isn't a miracle worker. Still, he fills in at least three quarters of the sheet confidently, and hands the paper in with five minutes to spare. Naomasa-sensei raises an eyebrow at him, but takes the paper anyway and immediately starts to look it over. No doubt wanting him to watch the red pen in action. Yahaba leaves before he can do so, almost skipping down the hall.

 **yahaba:** Quiz is done!

 **watari:** congrats. ice cream after practice?

Yahaba's about to reply with an enthusiastic hell yeah, but then he remembers his side of the bargain with Kyoutani. As much as he'd rather get ice cream with Watari than be subjected to Kyoutani's criticism for an extra hour, he's a man of his word. 

**Yahaba:** Can't. Extra spiking practice today with Mad Dog. Tomorrow though

 **Watari:** big oof. good luck

Even the impending spiking practice with Kyoutani can't bring him off his high, though. He doesn't snap at Kunimi when he walks most of his suicides. He plays the roll of positive captain, giving out compliments and thumbs ups frivolously. His nice demeanor even extends to Kyoutani. 

"That was a great spike," he says in the middle of a scrimmage, after Kyoutani knocks the ball right between Kindaichi and one of their first years. Kyoutani stares at him for a few seconds, then huffs and looks at his feet. Yahaba decides to take that as a "thank you, oh wise and amazing captain, for bestowing your praise upon me." 

"Alright, let's finish strong. Just nine laps today, because I'm feeling generous," he calls at the end, which is responded to by a chorus of groans. "It'll feel like nothing when you guys get used to it. Aoba Johsai will be the fastest ones on the court by interhighs."

There's no argument today, maybe because they know he won't budge, but he doesn't care about the reason. He just needs to save as much energy and positivity as he can for spiking practice. 

"You're all amazing. See you guys tomorrow," he calls as everyone files out. He gets a few "thanks, captain"s and one "see you later, mom" from Kunimi. No, he's not eternally beloved like Oikawa, but he thinks the team is warming up to him. And once they win their first practice match, the first years will be just as pumped up.

He waits for everyone else to leave, then shuts the gym door, taking a last swig of his water bottle. "You have an hour, Kyoutani. Anything particular you wanna practice, or just spiking in general?"

Kyoutani is an introvert in the most hilariously obvious way, so Yahaba's not surprised to see him look more relaxed than he did all of practice. "I got nothing special in mind, so we can just do regular practice, unless you have something in mind."

"Well..." Yahaba takes out his phone, turning to one of his many saved videos in the volleyball folder. "I know you hate not hitting full power, but I saw this guy in the olympics from a few years ago who did this thing where he hit the ball with the side of his hand so it spun in the opposite direction. I think it'll really throw people off if they have no idea where the ball could go, especially since you're ambidextrous. Sort of like the top spin serve of spikes. There was someone from Itachiyama two years ago who could do something like that but..."

He stops in the middle of his monologue and gauges Kyoutani's reaction. He doesn't look bored, or annoyed that Yahaba's wasting his time, or upset that he's asking him to try something new. He just looks... surprised.

"When did you have time to get all of that?" he asks. Yahaba rolls his eyes, finishing the joke before Kyoutani can.

"When I should've been studying for pre-calc, I know," he says. "So do you want to try it, or..."

"Let me see the video," Kyoutani says, practically grabbing the phone out of Yahaba's hand. Yahaba bites his tongue to keep from snapping, then looks over his shoulder as they watch the two minute long video. It's in Serbian, since the team is Serbian, but they don't need to understand the commentator anyway. He sees Kyoutani's brow furrow when they show the move up close, sees his hand twitch as he subconsciously tries to replicate it.

At the end, he hands the phone back and says, "Let's try it."

Yahaba's surprised, but he holds back his shock with a grin. "Sure."

The move, unsurprisingly, is hard. Really fucking hard, and not just for Kyoutani. Yahaba also has to set it with no spin at all so that it won't ricochet, plus it has to be more forward than up so that it slides off at the right angle. Not to mention that even when he does hit it right, half the time it flies straight out of bounds.

"Giving up time yet?" Yahaba pants, laying down in the bleachers. It's been half an hour, and their minimal successes are more luck than anything. He can tell Kyoutani's getting agitated too, all balled up energy that wants to smack the ball down as hard as he can. _Maybe he should just stick to that. It's been successful in the past, plus he won't be as pissy about it._

"Nope," Kyoutani says, balancing the ball on his folded knees. "We're not quitting, even though this move is a motherfucker. You wanna give us an edge, right? That's why you did all that fucking research."

"Yeah, but there are other moves-"

"I can do this one and so can you. Let's nail it." 

"You choose the weirdest times to be motivational," Yahaba says under his breath, but rolls to his feet. "Alright, this time I'll try to do it a little higher. Maybe that'll get it to stop flying off." It's easier to criticize himself rather that Kyoutani, who takes to constructive criticism like a stick of dynamite takes to a match. Besides, Kyoutani's the future Olympian here, so he usually doesn't need the criticism anyway. Yahaba's job on Aoba Johsai is to make other people's talent shine, not his own. 

And he's fine with that. Completely and entirely. 

They have ten minutes left when they nail it perfectly the first time. Yahaba sets it, just slightly higher than normal, and Kyoutani glances the ball off the side of his hand, giving it a spin. It does a complete goddamn curve around before bouncing on the ground, all the way on the other side of the court. 

Yahaba watches the ball roll to a stop, then turns to Kyoutani, who has a more subdued version of his own awed expression.

"We got it!" Yahaba shouts, since it's not like there's anyone else around to hear it. "Praise the volleyball gods, we finally did it. I really thought I was doing extra exercise for nothing but we got it."

Kyoutani doesn't say anything, but he does slap Yahaba's hand when it's offered, so that's something. Yahaba treats himself to another water break, and He Who Takes No Breaks practices his serving in the meantime. 

"Hurry up, captain," he calls, retrieving another ball from the bin. "You said it yourself, we only have an hour."

"Screw the hour," Yahaba replies. He's still filled with adrenaline from the perfect spike. "I'm willing to stay longer if you are. I wanna nail this before Johzenji next week. That'll show those hyperactive weasels."

"I'm down, but I have to be home before nine," Kyoutani says, nailing another one over the net. "Emiyo has a test tomorrow and I promised my parents I'd help her study."

"Big brother Kyoutani strikes again," Yahaba chirps, and Kyoutani scowls, like he forgot that he usually avoids talking about his home life to Yahaba at all costs. Or talking to Yahaba at all, really. _Am I turning Mad Dog into a chatterbox? The impossible really can be accomplished with enough stubbornness._

"Let's get on with this," he says, and Yahaba hops off the bench.

"Right behind you."

It takes them another half an hour to get truly comfortable with the move. By the end, Yahaba's shoulders are aching like hell itself, and even Kyoutani looks a little winded. Still, they're both smiling.

"I'm not gonna bother offering you a ride," Yahaba says, swinging his keys around his finger. "G'night, Kyoutani."

"Night," Kyoutani calls back, swinging his bag over his shoulder. He stops, halfway through the doorway. "You had your quiz today, right? If you didn't pass I'm literally gonna flip my shit."

"Same here," Yahaba says, grinning a little. "I'm almost positive I got in the eighties."

"Damn straight." He can't recognize the emotion in Kyoutani's voice. It sounds almost like pride, which is completely absurd because Kyoutani doesn't feel pride for anyone but himself. _Oh, maybe it's pride in himself for being able to hammer the concepts into my thick skull. Sounds Kyoutani-like for sure._

"See you," he calls, and when Kyoutani's gone, he locks the door behind him. He can barely lift his arms to the steering wheel, and his throat is completely dry despite the water, but overall he feels satisfied. He can't wait to use the move in scrimmage tomorrow.

When he gets home, all he wants to do is sleep for a billion years, but instead he goes back to his folder of volleyball videos and watches them for another hour, making note of the different ones he thinks Kyoutani could do.

 _I'll make an Olympian of you, Mad Dog,_ he thinks drowsily, putting his phone on his nightstand. _Just gimme some time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why does kunimi have such short boy energy when he's like six feet tall? anyway


	5. Chapter 5

"How are you even worse at this now than last week? Move the variable, not the constant."

It's Monday, which means precalculus tutoring time at the library. They've been there for ten minutes and already Kyoutani is annoyed at him. Not that Yahaba can blame him; he knows he's being spacey, even though he can't help it. 

"Sorry," he mutters, erasing his mistake and replacing it with the right answer. "I'm not thinking straight today. Maybe we should end it before you bash my head out of anger. My face is my best feature, you know."

"You're just distracted because of the practice match tomorrow," Kyoutani says, ignoring his whole statement. "We've beaten them before, and we'll beat them again. Plus, it's in our gym, so we have the advantage."

"I know all that. It's just..." _my first time being captain in a real game,_ he thinks, and puts his head down on his hands. "They're really unpredictable. The match can go any way." Nights spent analyzing their games indicated only this. The only advantage Aoba Johsai has - besides being a better team - is that since their team had no third years last year, they'll probably have the same line up this year. 

"We'll crush them no matter what they try and throw at us. That's why we practice so much." Yahaba peeks his head up to stare at the unusually positive Kyoutani in front of him. "Stop giving me that look, you're being a piss off."

"Aaaaaaaand you ruined the positivity," Yahaba sighs, twirling his pencil between his fingers. "Alright. I'm focused, I'm ready, and... what question were we on again?"

"Five."

"And I'm gonna do question five!"

"Stop yelling, the librarian already hates us."

"I'm not yelling, I'm- nope, you're not baiting me again like this. I'm doing the problem!"

* * *

When the concept is - somewhat loosely - hammered into his head, the two of them pile into Yahaba's car to pick up Rika.

"So in terms of using the new move," he says, checking his mirrors, "are we comfortable enough with it to try using it tomorrow?" They used it a few times during scrimmage, but their success rate stays about fifty fifty. So even when it does work, it only makes up for the points they already lost.

"What was the point of learning it if we're not gonna try it?" Kyoutani asks. "This is just a practice match, anyway. We're supposed to be trying stuff out. Johzenji tries shit out all the time, even in real games, and they made it pretty far last year in the prelims."

"Yeah, but this is how we get our reputation. If we lose horribly, then everyone will judge me as a setter _and_ a captain now, and they'll say the reign of Aoba Johsai has ended and all the other schools will hear about it and judge us and when we show up to preliminaries no one will want to cheer for us and-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kyoutani cuts him off. Yahaba blinks, looking at him through the rearview mirror for a second. His eyes are steely, mouth pressed in a firm line. "No one's watching or judging or any of that shit. You're fine, stop freaking out on me."

"I'm not freaking out! I'm having a perfectly rational reaction." He pulls up to the preschool, stopping at the curb. "Go, run, get your sister. I'll try not to 'freak out' in the meantime." He makes exaggerated air quotes to show just how ridiculous he thinks Kyoutani's being. _I'm not freaking out. Oikawa never freaked out._

Kyoutani leaves, and returns a few minutes later with Rika. Yahaba's still a little miffed about the "freaking out" comment, but he won't be petty in front of Rika. He wants to be a good influence, especially since Kyoutani definitely isn't one.

"Hi Rika," he says brightly, and she waves to him. 

"Hi Yaba! Wanna see the picture I made? I did it with my fingers." She reaches into her backpack, pulling out a finger painting of... something. It's colorful, whatever it is.

"I love it. All of the colors just go together so nicely. I want a picture like that," he says, and Kyoutani rolls his eyes since Rika can't see it. _Yes, Kyoutani, I will be a better brother than you. And this is not me being petty._

"I'll make you one," Rika decides. "This one is for nii-chan 'cause it's a picture of him."

Yahaba barely stifles his laughter with his hand. "It looks just like him!" he says, looking back at Kyoutani. The boy is now red in the ears, in addition to his annoyance from before. Very satisfying. "Don't you love it, Kyoutani?"

"Of course," he says, glare disappearing when Rika looks to him. "I love it even more than Yaba does. Speaking of Yaba, shouldn't he be driving by now?" The car is still by the curb, and a few testy parents have taken to driving around him.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mad Dog," he says through his teeth, starting the car again. "Instead of using your energy to be passive aggressive, you should save it for the game tomorrow."

"I could say the same to you, captain."

Rika, oblivious to the tension building, bounces on Kyoutani's knee and asks, "Which game is it?"

"Volleyball," Kyoutani answers before Yahaba can. "You went to one of my games last year, remember? The one with the net. Yaba was there too." Yahaba's really starting to get pissed off about the whole "Yaba" thing. He'll have to confront Kyoutani about it later, when Rika isn't around.

"Oh yeah! Can I come to this one?" she asks, and Kyoutani turns to Yahaba.

"Depends what Yaba says. He's the captain, after all." It's a practice match a little after school, so parents usually don't come anyway. He doesn't know who would watch her while Kyoutani plays, or what she would do if she got bored. 

But... it would be pretty hilarious to hear her call "The Mad Dog of Aoba Johsai" nii-chan in front of their whole team. Plus, he wants to be the good cop out of the two of them, even though Kyoutani's her actual brother. 

"Sure," Yahaba says with a smile. "You just have to ask your mom first. Me and Kyou-chan will pick you up from school tomorrow and take you to the gym. Did you ever go to the Aoba Johsai gym before?"

"I don't remember," she says, then starts bouncing again and singing a song that might be about cleaning up, but Yahaba can't understand half of the words. They stop at a red light, and Kyoutani leans forward to whisper in his ear. 

"Kyou-chan?" he asks, more like a growl than anything.

"Yaba?" Yahaba shoots back, not looking away from the road. "I had to think of something fast."

"Well don't call me that again. You're not Oikawa."

"You're right, I'm not." He grits his teeth, and the light turns green again.

* * *

A few hours later, now in his bed, Yahaba goes back to his analysis with a frown. _They're good at receives and getting the ball after blocks, but nothing extraordinary about their spikes. They usually play a defensive battle, wearing out the other team._

He startles when his phone starts vibrating, and he fumbles to pick it up. _It's Oikawa-san,_ he thinks with a small frown. _What could he want?_

"Hello?" he says, picking up the phone.

"Yahaba-chan, you picked up!" Oikawa's voice is bubbly and full of energy, like it always is, even though it's one in the morning. No time zone difference either, since he's currently studying in Japan. "I was worried you were sleeping already, although that would be silly since you have your first practice match as captain tomorrow. You're probably overcome with nerves, right?"

"How did you know about the match?" he asks, feeling a familiar pressure build behind his eyes. Oikawa is the master of psychoanalysis as always, even when he's not there in person. Yahaba has been subject to countless talks about nerves and getting enough sleep and pressure from the other boy. Even a hint of anxiety, Oikawa could smell out like sharks smelling blood.

"Please, Yahaba-chan, I have connections everywhere." He pauses, his tone going a touch more serious. "You didn't deny the nerves part."

"Well, you're not wrong." Oikawa's the only one he can admit it to, just because if he lies, he'll know anyway. "I'll be fine by tomorrow, it just feels like a lot tonight."

"It isn't good to stay up all night right before your match, you know. Have you tried sleep medication?"

Yahaba's about to reply when he hears a new voice on Oikawa's end, someone significantly grumpier. "Stop recommending drugs to everyone, Oikawa. Not everyone is a crackhead like you."

"That was Iwa-chan," Oikawa elaborates, like anyone else would be in Oikawa's apartment at one in the morning. "But fine, I take it back. Maybe try some tea and honey, or warm milk or something. _Definitely_ put your team analysis stuff away, I know you're obsessing over it."

"How do you know everything?" Yahaba asks, tucking his notebook away in his drawer. Oikawa was the one who had him start it, way back in first year. He was a half decent setter back then, but he was better at finding the other team's weaknesses, so he was kept on the bench often for consultation. For a long time, he thought he would be a benchwarmer forever.

"I already told you, I have connections. Plus, you're very easy to read. My psychology professor would have a field day with you." He clears his throat, and Yahaba can sense a captain speech about to occur. "It takes a little while to get used to being in charge, and that's what the practice matches are for. Johzenji's harmless, they're perfect to experiment with."

"Kyoutani said the same thing," he mumbles before he can think about the consequences of mentioning Oikawa's favorite pet in front of him. "I mean-"

"Mad dog-chan!" Oikawa exclaims, and it's all Yahaba can do not to cringe. "How is he doing? Are you two getting along well? Does he come to practices? I tried to knock some sense into him before I left but you know how he is. Only takes orders from Iwa-chan."

"That's because I was the only sane third year on the team last year," he hears Iwaizumi say, and Yahaba chuckles a little. Iwaizumi's and Oikawa's arguing/flirting had been the most interesting part of practice for most of last year.

"He's doing fine," he replies in his best casual voice. "You know, for his standards. Comes to practice, tries to make all of us look bad compared to his stupid athleticism, all that nice stuff. And we get along fine, I guess. He tutors me in pre-calculus." For some reason, the last admission makes his face burn just a little. Probably because anyone who asks Kyoutani for a favor must be _desperate._

"He _does?_ That's great, Yahaba-chan! I was afraid that you two would start fighting again and I would have to come in and give a retired captain speech about how we're all in this together or something. It seems like you have him handled, though."

"Mmm." _What defines having Kyoutani "handled"?_ "How are things in university?"

"Ugh, such a drag. I have to work my way back onto the regular lineup even though I'm miles ahead of their current one. I shouldn't be keeping you up, though. I'm already keeping Iwa-chan up all night."

" _Watch your phrasing, you idiot._ "

"Who says I didn't mean it like that?" He laughs, long and hard. "Nice to hear from you, Yahaba-chan. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call. Chances are if you're awake, I'm awake."

"I'll keep that in mind," he says genuinely. For all his eccentricities, Oikawa really was the best captain they could've had. _That's basically the problem with coming right after him._ "Have a good night, Oikawa-san."

"You too!" 

He hangs up, putting his phone down on his bedside table and falling onto his bed. What Oikawa and - god forbid he ever get wind of this - Kyoutani said makes sense. He shouldn't be worried at all over a practice match. And yet...

_What if they decide someone else is a better captain than me? What if this is just the beginning of the end?_

He gets a text and rolls over to read it.

**Oikawa-san:** go to sleep!!!!!!

"How does he always know?" he asks aloud to the dark, then turns his phone off and tries to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> building up to the johzenji match is TORTURE because i wanna write my son terushima so bad. next chapter... it'll be soon
> 
> also writing oikawa is a joy. top five favorite characters to write (even though i don't do it much). he is a cryptid. he knows all


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here! on vacation! got my ass kicked by the ocean today so i'm falling asleep as i type this. and its eight thirty. i have the body of a youngster, but the exhaustion of a middle aged banker

Yahaba is jittery all throughout the day, but he hides it by drinking extra coffee, therefore becoming even _more_ jittery, which he thinks cancels out the original jitteriness. _That makes sense, right?_ Whatever the case may be, by the time class is over and it's time to get Rika, he's cracked every knuckle in his hands, and his knee hasn't stopped bouncing in an hour.

He doesn't have class with Kyoutani, and he sure as hell doesn't know what class he has last, so he waits for him by the lockers. The boy shows up a few minutes later, looking disgruntled to see him there.

"Your sister wanted to watch the match, remember?" Yahaba says. "And I'm not going to get her by myself."

"Like I'd trust you in a car alone with my sister." He pulls on his shoes. "Let's go quick, I want time before the practice match to warm up."

"We always warm up at the same time, calm your shit."

They retrieve Rika, who's extra bubbly today because "I get to see nii-chan play and go to the big kids school _and_ we're getting ice cream after."

"Wow, that's amazing, Rika," Yahaba says, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel rapidly. He can almost hear his heartbeat in his ears.

"Nii-chan doesn't get ice cream though. He always gets meat sticks."

"Mmhm."

His anxiety must be leaking into his tone too, because Kyoutani hisses, "You're wigging out. Why're you wigging out?"

If Rika weren't here, Yahaba would respond, "That's a stupid question, and you're stupid for asking it. Who's the tutor now? You're making my life even harder than it has to be. I wish I were dead, and I wish you were dead beside me." His nerves only worsen his already bad attitude, and right now he wants nothing more than to take it out on Mad Dog and have _him_ be the target of anger for once, rather than the distributer.

But, because Rika _is_ here, he only huffs and pinches the bridge of his nose. He tries to think back to Oikawa's words. _It's only a practice match. I can handle this. This is the time to experiment._

They reach the school building, and Yahaba parks while Kyoutani leads Rika to the gym. Then they have to change to their uniforms and practice for a little while before Johzenji's team arrives. Yahaba makes sure not to overwork them this time, since he doesn't want them to be tired during the match. Rika sits with their manager and their coach, playing on Kyoutani's phone.

Finally, just a few minutes later than scheduled, the Johzenji van arrives, and out pours a sea of yellow-clad teenage boys, along with their manager and coach. Terushima leads the pack as their captain, and he runs towards Yahaba as soon as he spots him.

"Yahaba, always great to see you," he says, pulling out his earrings and sticking them in his jacket pocket. "It'll be a nice change of pace, playing against you rather than the great king again. Not that he's bad or anything, but it's always nice to change things up once in a while." He pushes his blond hair back, even though the front strands fall right back on his forehead.

_Terushima Yuuji, always a major flirt with nothing behind it._ Yahaba usually ignores it, but maybe going along with it will help get rid of his stress. After all, he's never seen Terushima even close to stressed before. Maybe it's his secret.

"Looking good as ever, Terushima," he says, spinning a ball in his hands. "No one pulls off the punk look quite like you do. Do you still have the tongue ring?"

"'Course," Terushima says, sticking out his tongue so the silver ball gleams in the light. "I might take it out for the match today, though. Last time it banged into my teeth so hard, I thought my front tooth got chipped for sure." He laughs, like having a chipped tooth is just another funny story to tell people. _What a life he must live._  
  
"If you did chip it, you could get one of those gold teeth. That would look pretty cool."

"Really? And here I was, thinking you thought of me as a mindless delinquent wannabe." Alright, maybe Yahaba said that _once,_ but in his defense, he had been in a horrible mood. "You'd look good with a piercing or two, you know."

"You think?" He doesn't like the punk aesthetic for himself, but he's intrigued. "Where do you think a piercing would look best?"

"Right around here," Terushima says, and points to his mouth. "You have a nice mouth, you know? You want people's attention to be drawn to it."

Before Yahaba can respond, Kyoutani butts into the conversation. Yahaba has no idea how long he's been around, but he looks mad about something. _God, I hope he didn't get into a fight with the referee or someone on the other team. I should've kept him in my sight._

"You're the Johzenji captain?" he asks gruffly, almost standing in front of Yahaba. _In a mood already. No surprise here._ He pushes him to the side a little, so now they're standing in a sort of triangle. Terushima's eyes light up.

"And who are _you,_ Mr. Arms?" he asks, sizing Kyoutani up for a change. "You weren't at the last match, were you? I would've remembered someone who could tear my head from my shoulders with one hand. Do you work out often?"

"Uh, yeah," Kyoutani says, and _oh my god, his entire face is so red._ As a good captain, Yahaba probably should've warned him about Terushima beforehand, but it's too late now, and the result is _highly_ entertaining. Plus, it's Kyoutani's fault for never coming to practice last year. Otherwise he would be well aware of Terushima's tendencies.

He sends Yahaba an alarmed look, probably asking both _who_ the fuck this is and _why_ the fuck this is happening, but Yahaba decides to sit back and watch the show.

"See, you already got the aesthetic down with your hair," Terushima says, pointing to his head. If he's aware of Kyoutani looking like a bomb about to go off, he doesn't look it. "You'd look great with pierced ears. It's a crime that you don't have them already. Ever thought about getting earlobe gauges? They would look _killer_ on you."

"Terushima works at a piercing parlor after school," Yahaba explains, because it's the least he can do. "He's like a walking, talking advertisement."

"You know it, baby." Terushima winks at him, then turns back to Kyoutani. _He's good at multitasking._ "Do you have any tattoos?"

"I'm a third year in high school," Kyoutani says, sending Yahaba another visibly uncomfortable look. Yahaba smiles at him sweetly and doesn't interrupt.

"That means you'll be eighteen soon, right?" Terushima continues. "You'll be legal before you know it, and they are totally badass. If you had one right here-" at this, he pokes Kyoutani's tricep, "-then you would look like a total savage. In a good way."

"Okay," Kyoutani says, then turns to Yahaba. "Come with me for a second. It's about... volleyball."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is," Yahaba says, seeing his statement for the emergency exit that it is. But, he's feeling merciful now that his chest isn't about to break open from nerves, so he'll go along with it. "Alright, I'll come with you. Nice talking to you, Terushima. See you in a bit at the game."

"May the best team win," Terushima says with a grin, and Kyoutani almost drags Yahaba away, all the way to the locker room.

As soon as the door's closed, Yahaba bursts out laughing, pressing a hand to his mouth so that it's not too loud.

"Dude, you look like a middle schooler with a crush," he says, breathe catching on his words. "Jesus, you just met the guy."

"Shut up, it's not a crush," Kyoutani grumbles. "He was being weird. I didn't know what to say."

"He was _flirting,_ god damn it, and he does it with everyone. Apparently he's hooked up with one person from every volleyball team, although I have no clue who they are. Relax, he's not trying to court you or anything." 

"I know." Kyoutani's face is red again, although Yahaba doesn't know if he's more angry or embarrassed. "It's just... no one's ever flirted with me like that before. It was embarrassing."

Yahaba's jaw drops. "Get out. There's no way that you've never been flirted with before." Even putting his physical stature aside, he's on the Aoba Johsai volleyball team. He should be getting confessed to at least twice a month. _Maybe his attitude is so awful that he somehow counteracted all of his good traits. Not too surprising. No one wants to date a basket case._

Kyoutani's eyes squint into a glare. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

_I'm dealing with an idiot. I thought he was smart, but outside of volleyball and school stuff, he's a total idiot. And a prude. Lord lift me up, I have bigger things to worry about right now._

"Nothing, forget I said anything. I can't deal with your density right now." He swings open the locker room door. "We're wasting valuable practice time. Mush, you dumb fuck. Mush." 

"Stop insulting me for no reason," Kyoutani, the dumb fuck, says. "I'm coming, don't have to lecture me about practicing."

The team has five minutes of passing practice, then both sides have serving practice at the same time, just to save time. Yahaba knows that his serving is consistent, so he uses the time to survey everyone else's serving, sitting with the coach on the side. Since it's a practice match, he wants everyone to have a turn to play, but this is a good opportunity to make notes for when it actually matters. 

_Fujiki is having a good serving day,_ he notices, looking over at one of their first years. _I'll see how he holds up under pressure, then maybe he can be a sub for an official game._ Technically Coach is in charge of choosing who comes in, but he always takes Yahaba's notes into consideration.

Oikawa was also always involved with the choosing process. It's a good captain thing to do. Anything Oikawa used to do could be considered a good captain thing to do.

He and Terushima meet by the referee chair to shake hands.

"It'll be a good game," he says, and Terushima agrees.

"Make it exciting, will ya? OIkawa's games were always great. The way he served the ball... almost knocked my head off one time. What a rush."

Yahaba feels the familiar pressure of being just as good as his old captain crash over him like a tidal wave. He knows Terushima didn't mean any harm by it, he just talks and talks, but his skin is crawling now. He lets go of his hand abruptly, playing it off as nothing, and makes his way back to his team.

"This game doesn't matter for anything, as you all know, but it's good practice," he says in their pre-game huddle. "You'll all get a chance to show off today, so try not to let the pressure get to you." _I'_ _m such a hypocrite. I won't be able to look at myself in the mirror after this._ "You should still work your hardest, since practice games are how we pick our starters and subs for real games, but don't beat yourself up if you mess something up. We'll beat them for sure." _Unless I manage to screw everything up so badly that we lose to Johzenji for the first time ever._

After Coach tells them the starters and positions, Yahaba pulls Kyoutani to the side.

"I'm done freaking out," he says, because he feels like it has to be said. Otherwise Kyoutani will keep giving him that half pitying-half disgusted look. It might not be entirely true, but he's at least collected enough that he won't show it. "I'm ready to play."

"Took you long enough, captain," he replies, and his grin is positively bloodthirsty. "Now get in position. I wanna land ten spikes on that blond captain prick."

"You would do that to your own true love?"

"Shut the fuck up!" 

They both look over to Rika instinctively, as if she could've heard the curse all the way across the gym. She's looking around, saying something to the manager beside her, but when she sees them looking, she waves.

"Hi nii-chan!" she shouts, and Kyoutani sprints over to her, crouching to whisper something to her. Probably a much nicer version of shut the fuck up, if Yahaba knows him. Then, just a few seconds later, he's back in position, not even breaking a sweat. _Stupid Olympian. He could have everyone around him falling at his feet if he wasn't a lunatic._

"Both sides are ready?" the referee asks, and everyone gives him a thumbs up. "Aoba-Johsai serves." He blows the whistle, and the sound echoes throughout the gym.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god i love terushima. he's just so adaptable and fun to write. plus, i do love me a man with a tongue piercing


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not great at writing volleyball action (i'll leave that to furudate) so lets just focus on the emotions please and thank you

He's in a rut.

Yahaba's in a serving rut, and he doesn't know what to do about it.

His first serve goes well, and so does his second, but his third is _just_ out of bounds. _No problem_ , he thinks. _It's just nerves. Stupid nerves, but once I get into the game, I'll be better._

They win the first set, no sweat. He doesn't dare try the new move, not yet, and he can tell that Kyoutani is judging him for it, but he sends him a look that says _work with me here._ When they get the final point, his shoulders tense just a little less.

Then Terushima comes in with a brand new type of spike and scores five times in a row on them the next set before Watari develops a strategy to stop it. Johzenji is _winning_ , and Yahaba's up to serve again and he misses _horribly._ No chance of Johzenji possibly retrieving it.

"Don't mind it," Kindaichi says, and Yahaba nods, but inside his head he's _screaming. I should've spent my serving time serving. I'm so out of it today._ He can almost feel Kyoutani's disapproval; it only makes him rage more. 

They win this set too, but barely. Only by three points. He can see the gears in Terushima's head turning as his team huddles, probably preparing some new cockamamie plan that may or may not work. Terushima never has trouble experimenting; his team has so many different ways of attack, it's a wonder they decide on one at all.

He serves first again in their third set, and he gets three this time before the screw up manifests in a slip of his hand. He hasn't done this bad since he was a first year, or maybe even a middle schooler. In his mind, he sees a flash of Oikawa's famous jump serve, and he clenches his teeth.

"What the hell, Yahaba?" Kyoutani hisses, and Yahaba would answer if he knew (although in the state that he is in right now, he's just as likely to slam Kyoutani into a wall again).

He does neither, mumbling, "Shut up," instead. His voice is weak; he doesn't deserve to be telling Kyoutani to shut up after his horrible performance. Everyone else is at their peak, or at least trying their best, and he's screwing everything up for them.

He makes up for it, or at least tries to, with his setting. His setting, at least, is consistent. He's studied his teammates' spiking patterns long enough that he knows how to set for all of them well. Kyoutani in particular is excelling, and he can tell by Terushima's face that he's not the only one who notices. 

"How'd you do that with your elbow?" he hears him ask the blond boy. "It was totally sick. I gotta try that next time I spike, it was killer."

"That's just how I hit it," Kyoutani answers, and his flustered face is less amusing to Yahaba now that he's in a bad mood.

"Kyoutani, stop chattering, we're in the middle of a game," he says sourly, and Kyoutani's expression shifts from embarrassed to annoyed once more. _Just as things should be._

"I know that," he says, and his emphasis on _I_ is its own statement. _I'm not the one who's screwing everything up here. I know that we're in a game, so maybe_ you _should act like it, captain._

They're neck and neck in this one, and it's Yahaba's turn to serve. He picks up the ball, but before the whistle blows, he catches Coach's eye and lifts up a finger. _Switch me out. I can't go through this again. I can't make us lose like this._

He's swapped with Fujiki, the same underclassman that was doing well before. He's doing better than Yahaba at least, and he stays in until one of Terushima's teammates manages to spike on them, stealing their serve. The whole time that Yahaba's on the bench, he looks at no one. He doesn't want to see the pity in their eyes.

As soon as he's back on the court, he can breathe marginally better.

"I'm done freaking out," Kyoutani whispers in a high pitched voice, probably meant to imitate Yahaba's. "I'm ready to play."

"Shut up!" He says it louder this time, angrier, enough that Kunimi looks over in mild interest. "Can't you see I'm pissed enough already?"

"You're not pissed enough," Kyoutani says, and it's jarring enough to snap Yahaba out of his anger for a moment. "You're letting your fear work better than your desire to win. You're such a stickler for working hard usually, it's annoying how out of it you look."

"Sorry I'm stressed, let me just adjust my adrenaline levels for your sake," Yahaba says dryly. Well, he tries to say it dryly, but it probably comes out more strained than anything. Kyoutani huffs, then pinches him on the arm. Hard.

"If you gotta be something, be mad," he grumbles. "Being calm is better, but when your blood's already pumping, it has to be something. Stop being scared. Be mad."

"I'm sure that's your life motto, right, Mad Dog?" he asks, rubbing his sore arm. "You could've at least pinched the non-serving arm."

"At this rate, it's not like you'll be using it much." And _damn,_ that one kind of hurts. _Who knew Mad Dog had it in him to be verbally abusive as well as physically?_ But he's right, and Yahaba turns back to the game with his eyes harder. He's not scared of them, the team that they beat every year. He's _mad._

His sets go higher than they have before, and stronger too. He's channeling something he usually leaves untouched. 

"Looks like you've got some spice in you yet, huh Yahaba?" Terushima, also in the front row, asks, gesturing to Yahaba's face. "I know you've been holding back on the not-vanilla shit. Give us all you got, we can handle it."

"You can try," Yahaba replies, and his heart rate feels calmer already. He's not afraid, he's vindictive for those lost points. He's not shaking in fear, he's buzzing with energy. _Is this how Mad Dog feels all the time? It's overpowering, but so liberating. I could stay like this forever._

"Let's try the new move," he hears himself whisper to Kyoutani. "If it doesn't work the first time, I'll try it again. I want to get it to work today, in an actual game. I want to crush them."

Kyoutani raises an eyebrow. "Out of your funk so quick? Also you sound kinda mental right now, not gonna lie. Maybe you should try being _less_ mad."

"I don't care. I want to try it." His veins are pumping to burst. "Will you hit it?"

Kyoutani grins his usual Mad Dog smile, the one he does right after every successful spike. "Obviously. I've just been waiting on you to snap out of it."

"I'm out of it." _Or rather, I'm in something else._ "I'm ready."

Aoba Johsai serves, Johzenji receives. They spike, Watari saves it, sends it over to Yahaba. _Now's my chance._ He sets it, but it's too high this time, and at a weird angle. Kyoutani hits it, but it almost goes out of bounds. Johzenji retrieves it, sets it up, and spikes it on them.

Yahaba almost takes back what he said before. It's a lot easier to say _I'll keep going even if I fail_ than to actually do it. 

"Sorry," he says to Kyoutani. 

"You better try that again, or I'll kill you," Kyoutani says, and he isn't half as mad as Yahaba expected. _Maybe because he knows it isn't his fault._ Terushima looks intrigued by their exchange, like he knows something new is coming and he's ready for it. 

"Fine enough."

He waits a few rounds, sets it normally to everyone else so that Johzenji doesn't catch on. Then, the perfect receive. He sets it to Kyoutani, making sure it's lower now, and...

"Out!" the referee calls. Yahaba gapes at the spot on the floor where the ball landed, unmistakably out. _Was it bad again? Do I need to spin it more? What was wrong that time?_

"Sorry," Kyoutani mutters, and it snaps him out of his head. "Hit it wrong."

Yahaba blinks, then realizes he's taking responsibility for the bad spike. _Now_ he can see that trademark Mad Dog anger building up, and he slaps Kyoutani on the back. Hard.

"You better try that again, or I'll kill you," he growls in his best Kyoutani impersonation. Then, in his own voice, he says, "Don't mind it. It's just practice, right?"

"I guess." _Oh how the tables have turned._

They try it two more times unsuccessfully. Once, it goes out entirely, but the other time, Johzenji receives it and sends it back, which allows Watari to save it and give them another shot. Yahaba can almost feel it in the air the second before he sets it. _This one._ He looks over to Kyoutani as he sends it over, and he can see that he knows it too. There's no spin at all, and if Kyoutani hits it at the right angle...

 _Bam._ The ball hits the side of his hand perfectly and goes flying down, just past the centerline, right next to Johzenji's baffled blockers. Yahaba can barely hear over the blood rushing through his head, the sheer perfection of it all, and he almost jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder. 

"Is that what you were trying to do this whole time?" Watari asks with a grin. "Because I approve."

"Thank you, Watari. I can always count on your support." He high-fives a few more of his teammates, finally able to face them after his horrible serves before, then turns to Kyoutani. "Took us long enough."

The boy pauses from wiping his hands on his shorts to look up at Yahaba. "Yeah," he says, and his voice is raspy around the edges. "But we got it." His smile is softer now, less bloodthirsty than usual. Yahaba thinks he prefers it this way. _At least now I don't have to worry about him going over the rails._

Terushima, meanwhile, is staring at the ball on the ground in awe.

"Kyoutani, you might be my new favorite person to play against," he declares. Yahaba waits for Kyoutani to clam up again, and is fully ready to make fun of him for it, but he doesn't freeze up this time.

Instead, he jerks a thumb at Yahaba and says, "He set it for me, so he gets half the credit." His face is still red - some things never change - but he's meeting Terushima's gaze head-on. Terushima looks from Kyoutani to Yahaba, and his smile only grows.

"Sorry for not noticing, Yahaba," he says, head cocked to the side and eyes teasing. Yahaba has the strangest feeling that he's not talking about the move. "That's a hell of a nice move you got there."

"Thanks," he says, rubbing his hands together. "Does that mean Johzenji's going to try it next set?"

Terushima laughs out loud. "You know it. Doubt we'll be able to do it that smoothly, but we might as well try, right?"

"That's the Johzenji motto. If at first you don't succeed, try try again."

Terushima laughs again, then turns his attention back to his team, since the new set is starting. Yahaba sneaks a glance at Kyoutani to see how he's doing. Not too flustered, but still pink around the edges. _He really blushes like a middle school girl. That's hilarious._

By the end of their extended match, they've won seven sets, lost two, and Kyoutani and Yahaba have done their move successfully nine times. It's not much, but it's a good start. Yahaba even goes back to serving for himself shortly after their first time completing it; once his confidence is back, it's hard for it to be shaken again. 

Their coach has notes for all of them, which they'll review at practice tomorrow, but for now all he wants to do is sleep and maybe eat something, preferably in that order. He's winded, more than usual. _Being angry is exhausting._

Then he spots Kyoutani talking to Rika on the sidelines, and thinks _Might as well stop by and say hi to her, since she came for the game and all._

Rika, of course, hadn't been paying attention for most of the game, and she doesn't know the significance of any of their moves, but she does know that "The ball went really fast when nii-chan hit it and Yaba also hit the ball really high too."

Before Yahaba can _finally_ correct her, he hears a woman's voice to the left of him. 

"Oh, you must be the Yaba that Rika's always talking about," she says warmly. "Hi, I'm Kentarou's mother, it's nice to meet you. Thank you for driving my kids every week."

_Kyoutani's mother. Okay, this might as well happen._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yahaba's serving anxiety is a direct reflection of my own like oops didn't mean to write myself in there
> 
> also kyoutani's mom! we're collecting the whole kyoutani family here one by one


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just came back from vacation and remembered _oh crap i have to update this_ so here. also i babysat a four year old for a couple of days and it turns out they're even crazier than i thought. kids, man. taxing to my health.
> 
> friendly reminder that if this fic is still in existence, i will update it eventually! I'm just really inconsistent with my updating times and also forget things often :)

Before Yahaba can fully acknowledge Kyoutani's mother - it's hard enough to acknowledge that she even _exists;_ even after meeting Rika, Yahaba always assumed that Kyoutani was spawned from the devil - Kyoutani himself butts into the conversation, looking embarrassed.

"Ma, it's _Yahaba,_ not Yaba," he says irritably. He sends Yahaba a look that might have been apologetic on someone else's face, but on his just looked uncomfortable and slightly murderous. 

"Hi, yeah, I'm Yahaba Shigeru," he finally gets out, addressing Kyoutani's mother. "Nice to meet you, Kyoutani-san. And it's, uh, no problem driving Kyoutani and Rika."

"Please, call me Yoko," she says. "And I'm sure Kentarou never says thank you, he can be such a grumpy boy outside the house."

Yahaba barely contains a snort at "grumpy boy," and judging by Kyoutani's furious expression, he's not being discreet. "It's really no problem, Yoko-san. Kyoutani is..." He struggles to think of something nice to say about the other boy. "...our ace. In volleyball." _Of course it's something volleyball related._ "Plus he helps me with pre-calculus."

" _Ma, come on_ ," Kyoutani says, even more embarrassed looking now. "Let's just go. Rika wanted ice cream, remember? I promised we would get her some."

"He did, nii-chan did," Rika says, bouncing on her toes and pulling at her mom's arm. "We hafta go before it melts."

"One second, Rika," Yoko says, then turns to Yahaba. "Shigeru, why don't you come with us? As a show of gratitude from me for helping my children out."

Yahaba has about three seconds to make a decision before Kyoutani steps in again and chews him out in front of his mother. _Pros: finding more dirt on Kyoutani, having to see Kyoutani be polite in front of his mother, getting ice cream._

 _Cons: going to ice cream with_ Kyoutani.

"I'd be happy to come, Yoko-san, if it's not too much trouble," he says brightly. "You can drop me off here afterwards so I can drive my car back home."

"Wonderful," Yoko says cheerily, and Rika grabs his elbow. The four of them make their way to her car, a black minivan with a _My son plays volleyball at Aoba Johsai_ bumper sticker. Kyoutani catches him staring at it and flicks him on the shoulder. "Kentarou, you sit in the back with your friend, okay? I'll put Rika in her car seat."

Yahaba expects an immediate _he's not my friend_ from Kyoutani, but the other boy stays silent and climbs into the back. _Mama's boy,_ he thinks with a smirk as he climbs in after him. There are only two seats in the back, but from the way Kyoutani is pressed to the wall, Yahaba has most of the space to himself. 

_He's wearing a seat belt. Of course he's wearing a seat belt._

As soon as Yoko starts driving, Kyoutani whispers, "Stop enjoying yourself."

"How can I? You look like you're about to pass out," Yahaba whispers back, elbowing him in the side. "Why's everyone in your family so nice except for you? Are you adopted or something?"

"Shut up. I don't even know why you're coming."

"I dunno if you recall, but your mom invited me." He stretches his arms out in front of him, sighing contentedly. "Just think of this as a victory ice cream celebration for kicking Johzenji's asses and pulling off the special move."

"I was hoping to victory celebrate without you," Kyoutani mutters, then says, "And don't act so high and mighty, captain, especially since _you're_ the one who flipped out for half the game."

"Okay, alright, I'm sorry," Yahaba, ever the pacifist, says. He can see Kyoutani's mom peering at them through the rearview mirror, and he doesn't want her to have a bad impression of him. Yahaba Shigeru is _great_ with parents, thank you very much. Watari's mom always calls him her favorite son, and she has three of them. "Let's just play nice for now, okay? Stop looking like you want to murder me."

"I _do_ want to murder you."

"Well stop looking like it."

"Kentarou, are you bullying your friend?" Yoko asks from the front seat, sounding like she's on the verge of scolding. Kyoutani squeezes his eyes shut, then opens them again, looking significantly less angry. _He's an incredible actor._

"No, Ma," he replies, his eyes urging Yahaba to go along with it. _Should I be a good person for once? Does Kyoutani deserve my kindness?_ He's starting to remind himself of Oikawa on his bad days, and it's a bit alarming, so he chooses to be a nice guy for once. No one can ever accuse him of being a sadist.

"He's fine, Yoko-san," Yahaba says cheerily, wrapping an arm around Kyoutani's shoulders, which is difficult considering the boy is still pressed to the wall like he's glued to it. Kyoutani stiffens under his touch, but doesn't move away, which is a good sign. With any luck, they'll both come out of this looking like model kids. "I know he's secretly not a jerk. He just likes to hide his good side, right Kyoutani?"

"Mmhm," Kyoutani says through his teeth, still tense. _I take it back. He's a horrible actor._

"I wish all boys were like you, Shigeru," Yoko says with a smile. "I'm glad you're friends with my son."

Again with the word _friends_. Where did she even get that idea from, that they're friends? Is it the tutoring thing, or the fact that he drives them home every week? Does she know about their extra training? Whatever it may be, Yahaba isn't exactly ecstatic about being thought of as Kyoutani's friend, but he's not about to correct her. Judging by the way Kyoutani slumps under his arm, he's not running to do it either.

As soon as she looks back at the road, Yahaba pulls his arm back, folding it on his lap.

"Thanks for warning me before grabbing me," Kyoutani says under his breath, just loud enough for Yahaba to hear. 

"It wasn't a grab, it was a friendly headlock," he whispers back, peeved. " _Someone_ has to make it look like we're friends."

"Why exactly is that?"

"To make your mom happy, asshole. You probably don't bring a lot of friends home, do you?" He regrets saying it the instant he sees Kyoutani's eyes squeeze shut, and he's about to start apologizing when he opens them again a second later.

"With enemies like you, who needs friends?" he says gruffly, and pushes Yahaba's neatly parted bangs into his eyes. Kyoutani then ignores him while he struggles to neaten his hair again, and only smirks when his mom asks if everything's alright back there.

"It's all good, Ma," he says, staring Yahaba right in the eyes. "Right, Yahaba?" There's a hint of something besides for anger there, suddently. _Nerves? Fear?_ But before Yahaba can zone in on it, Kyoutani breaks eye contact and looks down at his lap.

"Yes, Yoko-san," Yahaba says, glaring daggers at Kyoutani. "All good back here."

They finally reach the ice cream place, and Kyoutani pushes his way out of the back before Yahaba can even move. _Asshole._ Not that he can say it when Rika's right there, struggling with her seatbelt. He clicks it open for her and lifts her out of the seat, setting her down on the sidewalk.

"Thanks Yaba!" she chirps, and Kyoutani groans, " _It's Yahaba._ " She blinks at him, then turns to Yahaba. "Really?"

Yahaba nods, surprised that Kyoutani was on his side for this. "Uh, yeah, it's Yahaba."

She squints at him suspiciously, like he could be lying about it, then says, "You should have chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. That's the yummiest one."

"I think so too," Yahaba agrees, and they head into the ice cream shop as a group, crowding around the counter. There are only a few people around, so they get to the front quick.

"You don't eat ice cream, right?" he asks Kyoutani. "Because you're a health freak and all. Pretty sure I remember Rika saying that."

"Stop remembering my personal details, creep," Kyoutani responds, slapping him on the shoulder.

"We're gonna have to have a conversation about ways to react to things besides violence," Yahaba frowns, rubbing his sore shoulder. "Especially with your stupid Olympian strength. My poor shoulder can't handle the abuse."

"Stop acting like you're made of tissue paper. You're on the-" He looks at Rika, then lowers his voice. "You're on the freaking Seijoh volleyball team. We're the best and strongest."

Yahaba takes a big step away from him, putting Rika between them. "Stay back, weirdly nice and optimistic Kyoutani! I won't hesitate to use Rika as a human shield."

"Dumbass," Kyoutani says, then covers his mouth and spares a look at his mom. She looks unimpressed. "Sorry, accident."

It's weird, seeing Mad Dog acting so polite and proper. Yahaba came in the first place to see Kyoutani being uncomfortable, but now that it's actually happening, he's not enjoying it nearly as much as he expected. Maybe it's the fact that he hasn't seen any friendly interactions yet between Yoko and Kyoutani. Normally when Yahaba teases him, Kyoutani gives as good as he gets, but with his mom, he just stiffens up and shuts down. No friendliness about it.

 _I shouldn't be thinking so much about this. To each their own, right? To each family, their own dynamic. It's not like I talk to my mom that much anyway._ A teeny tiny part of him suspects that there's something more here, but he shakes it aside. _Kyoutani's just being a brat as always. Yoko is being nothing but nice to both of us._

"Try not to do it again, Kentarou," she chides. "You know Rika copies whatever you do. Anyway, Shigeru, what do you want to order?"

"He wants chocolate with rainbow sprinkles," Rika pipes up. "Right YaHAba?"

"You're such a little devil," Kyoutani says, grinning while he lifts her in the air and puts her on his shoulders. "You should let Yahaba order for himself."

"No, she's right," Yahaba says, turning to Yoko. "Chocolate with rainbow sprinkles is good."

"If you say so," Yoko says, then turns to Kyoutani, her voice suddenly sharper. "Kentarou. Put her down before someone gets hurt."

He freezes, and so does she, in the middle of playing with his shaved-short hair. Slowly, and silent as the night, he picks her up under her armpits and sets her feet down on the floor. Rika pouts at him, but doesn't say anything. The air, at least to Yahaba, suddenly feels a little less breathable. 

Then, what feels like minutes but is probably only seconds later, Yoko turns to the front counter and starts ordering their ice cream. Two chocolate cones with rainbow sprinkles and one caramel scoop in a cup for herself. Rika returns to normal the second she gets her ice cream, her troubled face back to cheerfulness and quickly covered in chocolate and rainbow smears. Only Kyoutani remains stormy, sitting at the seat next to Yahaba without being prompted.

Yahaba tries not to notice that the other seat was next to his mom. He tries and he fails, so he focuses his energy into eating his ice cream as neatly as possible and not making eye contact with anyone. 

In the meantime, Yoko makes casual conversation with him. She asks him, like every other adult asks every other third year, about what he wants to do when he grows up.

"Kentarou wants to do volleyball, of course," she says, and Yahaba tries to search her face for some kind of sharpness, the same from before. A hint of malice, some explanation as to why Kyoutani's suddenly scrolling through his phone like he'll be tested on its contents when Yahaba knows for a _fact_ that he has no proper games. But there's nothing there besides for slight amusement, maybe even fondness. _She really seems to love her son, and that's the most confusing part of all of this._

"I think I want to do something with volleyball, but probably not playing professionally," he finally says, scratching his neck. "Maybe I'll be a coach or something."

"Oh, that's nice." And the conversation continues without a hitch. She's a perfectly pleasant woman, to the point where Yahaba forgets more than once about the mysterious issues between her and Kyoutani. And then she'll address the blond boy, and he'll brush it off or mumble something or just stiffen up, and Yahaba's _something's wrong_ senses will start tingling once more.

"I'm going to go clean Rika up," she finally says, once they're all done eating. "I'll be right back." She leads Rika away by a sticky hand, and once Yahaba sees her disappear into the bathroom, he turns to Kyoutani to say... something. He's not really sure what he wants to say, honestly.

"Lemme know if this is too personal, but are you and your mom in a fight or something?" he decides on asking. _There. Knowing Kyoutani, he probably won't answer, but whatever._

He expects defensive Kyoutani. He expects angry Kyoutani. He does _not_ expect blank, almost casual Kyoutani. 

"We don't get on good," he says simply, crossing his arms. "She's not always so nice. Usually not. I try not to give a shit."

Yahaba gapes at him. "What the hell does that mean? Does she," he turns his voice to a loud whisper, "beat you?" He tries to imagine Yoko, an average sized woman, beating Kyoutani, who could strangle someone with one bicep. He can't picture it.

"Shut up, or people will stare," Kyoutani hisses, annoyance leaking through his blank facade. "She's not abusive, or I wouldn't let her stick around. She just has anger issues, so I try to stay on her good side so she doesn't go mental and stay pissed all day. Doesn't help that she has a stick up her ass, but I usually manage to be good enough."

 _So that's why you're always mad,_ Yahaba doesn't say. _It's genetic._ He still can't see an angry woman in Yoko, but he chooses to believe Kyoutani, if for no other reason than he doesn't lie. He doesn't know _why_ he was the recipient of this info dump, but he won't just dismiss it. What he'll do with it has yet to be decided.

"Some people shouldn't be parents," he concludes, right as Yoko and Rika exit from the bathroom, Rika now stain-free and red faced. Yoko is smiling, and Yahaba tries to smile back, but probably fails miserably.

_Some people shouldn't be parents._

The rest of the trip is fine. At least now Yahaba knows why Kyoutani's so tense, although he's not sure he's happy with the answer. They pile back in the car, and Kyoutani presses himself against the wall again, but this time Yahaba yanks him to the middle.

"Look, I dunno anything about your mom besides for what you told me," he whispers while she's occupied pulling out of the parking lot, "but she sounds like she sucks. And you shouldn't say things like 'good enough'. You're my ace. That makes you good enough."

Kyoutani stares at him like he just told him that he's secretly an alien. Yahaba starts to wonder if he laid on the support too thick - they're not even friends, after all - but all Kyoutani does is huff and yank his arm back from where Yahaba didn't realize he was still gripping it.

"If you act weird around me now because of this, I'll break your kneecaps," he mutters back. "I don't want pity." His ears, Yahaba notes, are practically glowing in how red they are.

"And I'm not giving any, jackass," Yahaba says, sticking out his tongue. "If you sucked, I'd say so, but you don't. That's why you're the ace. Personality-wise, you could use some work, but you're solid. That's all I need. Well," he corrects quickly, "all Aoba Johsai needs."

"Hmph." Kyoutani doesn't say anything about it after that, but he does engage Rika about turtles, apparently her favorite animal, and even talks to his mom for a little about their practice match.

"Yeah, he had all the other players staring," Yahaba chimes in, nudging Kyoutani in the side, and he gets a neck pillow to the face for it, but it's not a patented Mad Dog Slap of Death. It's almost... soft. Like it's not meant to cause him bodily harm. _Weird._

They get back to the school, and Yahaba climbs over Kyoutani so he can head to his car.

"Um, thank you, Yoko-san," he says, not really sure how to address her with his new knowledge. To all outsiders, she really looks like the perfect parent. _Everyone has their own shit._

"My pleasure, Shigeru," she chirps. "Come over for dinner sometime, will you?"

"Yeah, maybe," he says semi-confidently. "Bye, Rika. See you at practice tomorrow, Kyoutani."

"Yep," Kyoutani says shortly, nodding in his direction, and he takes that as his cue to shut the door behind him. 

_People,_ Yahaba concludes as he drives home alone, _are complicated creatures._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kyoutani: *is chill with yahaba since they just did the special move*  
> yoko: yahaba you should come with us for ice cream!  
> kyoutani: *loses all the chill in his body*
> 
> man I would've LOVED to give kyoutani a totally nice and nurturing family but nobody's just born that angry so time for the first bit of kyoutani angst! i love writing myself into my own stories lmao
> 
> also yahaba doesn't miss a thing thats why hes a great captain. god bless his soul


	9. Chapter 9

Yahaba knew it would happen eventually. 

By himself, he's a total pleasure to have around. He can get along with anyone, easy, no problem. Old ladies pinch his cheek when he walks past. But with Kyoutani, he suddenly turns into a brash and angry asshole (for good reason, but that's irrelevant). Add Kyoutani, who's always a brash and angry asshole, and they're a force to be reckoned with.

So yeah, they were kicked out of the library. The librarian very politely, but also very explicitly, told them that they can't come back and study there anymore. Ever.

"You two are just a little too rowdy in your studying methods," was how she put it. "The other students find it hard to concentrate when you're there."

Kyoutani wasn't a problem in that situation; he couldn't talk back to an authority figure to save his life. Yahaba, on the other hand, had many choice words to say back to her, all _exceedingly_ passive aggressive. So it was probably for the best that Kyoutani dragged him away before he could say any of them. Didn't make him any less annoyed, though.

"Well this is just great," Yahaba sulks, following Kyoutani out of the building with his math stuff still bunched under his arm. "You shouldn't have yelled at me so loudly. Everyone was staring, and now we're exiled."

"They're always staring, Yahaba," Kyoutani replies shortly. "And I wouldn't have yelled if your annoying little bird voice wasn't egging me on. You're ruining math for me."

"You started it when you rolled your eyes!"

"Only because you skipped an entire step because it was 'too long and annoying for you'."

They stop by Yahaba's car, still glaring at each other. There's still an hour before he has to pick Rika up from school, and he doesn't want to go home without knowing the material.

"How about this," he says placatingly. "We can just study somewhere else. We don't need the library anyway, everyone there is snooty. Like the kid who always comes to read from the encyclopedias? Who does he think he's playing?" Rule number 1 for being a peacekeeper: always have someone else to make into the common enemy. 

"He reads the same one every week," Kyoutani adds, the lines on his face smoothing out somewhat. "Nobody's that interested in the letters A and B."

"He's probably looking at porn. I can't believe the library just lets him stay while we have to leave. We're actually studying!"

Kyoutani's face turns red at the word porn because he's a complete middle schooler, but he nods anyway. "There are other places to study. Maybe we can go to a park or something."

"The benches are still wet from the rain yesterday," Yahaba grimaces. "We can always just go to one of our houses. Mine is open, unless you'd rather do yours, I don't really care."

"Yours is fine," Kyoutani says, maybe a little too quickly. "Got any annoying mini Yahabas around?"

"I'm an only child," he sniffs, opening his car door.

"That explains a lot."

"Oh shut up."

His mom isn't home, as usual, and he lets himself in with his house key.

"You hungry?" he asks, taking off his shoes. "I probably have some protein shakes somewhere. What else do you eat, anyway?"

In full, complete honesty, he's nervous. He doesn't usually have people over at his apartment. When he hangs out with Watari, it's always at the other boy's house, since he's the one with the XBox and the guest bed. Yahaba's apartment is on the smaller side. Just his room, his mom's, the kitchen, the den, and a bathroom. He's not self conscious or anything, but that doesn't mean he doesn't notice.

"I'm not hungry," Kyoutani responds, a half-answer, head swiveling to take in the whole apartment. "Are your parents here?" 

"Nah, my mom's working. Come, we'll study in the living room." 

He carries his stuff to the den, looking over his shoulder to make sure Kyoutani's following. He is, just super slowly, still looking around. It makes Yahaba feel naked somehow, his home life being exposed to him. _It's no big deal. You literally went out to ice cream with his mom last week._

"I'm going to get myself something to eat," he says, putting his bag on the couch. "Uh, make yourself comfortable?" 

"Alright," Kyoutani says, sitting down gingerly on the carpet. Yahaba wants to make fun of him for it, telling him that he can sit on the couch if he wants, but he doesn't want to make him more uncomfortable. _How many houses does he go to, really? How many friends does he actually_ have _?_

He grabs a pack of rice cakes from the kitchen cabinet and a bottle of water, then brings it back to Kyoutani, who doesn't look like he's moved an inch since Yahaba left. He's scrolling through his phone when Yahaba settles beside him, tearing open the package with his teeth and starting in on them. He's actually pretty damn hungry, but he doesn't want to have a full meal when Kyoutani's here, not eating a thing.

"Let's start," he says, crunching loudly. Kyoutani gives him a sideways look, but doesn't call him out on it. Maybe because he's in unfamiliar territory. Yahaba's territory, to be exact. "You got the stuff?"

"Right here," Kyoutani says, gesturing to the papers spread around him.

Yahaba nods, then tosses him the water bottle. "Here. I know you didn't ask for anything, but I'd feel like a bad host if I didn't get you anything." He knows that Kyoutani drinks like four full water bottles every practice, so it's worth a shot as far as offerings go.

Kyoutani stares at it for a second, then looks up at Yahaba, who nods impatiently. "Yes, yours. Not poisoned or anything." The other boy rolls his eyes, but downs half of the bottle at once, proving Yahaba's suspicions entirely right. He could rival a camel in his drinking habits. _Maybe that's why his muscles look so big. It's all just water._

It's harder to get into the studying mood when he's on his own floor, but Kyoutani forces him to focus, snapping his fingers in his face every time he notices Yahaba staring longingly at the TV set or towards his room. Even with the distractions, they still manage to finish earlier than usual. _Huh. I guess leaving the library was a good idea after all. Thanks, Noguchi-san._

"What should we do now?" Yahaba asks, climbing onto the couch and grabbing his phone. He doesn't particularly have anything to do on it, but it's nice to have and hold. 

"I dunno," Kyoutani says. "It's your house."

That is true. The burden of host once again settles on Yahaba's shoulders. _What do I do when Watari comes over? Usually bitch about stuff for a while, then we play something._

But Kyoutani isn't Watari, unfortunately enough. _I have two options: either take him to my room and find something interesting there, or offer to practice volleyball._ Practicing on his one day off of the week makes him want to crawl into bed and die there, but he knows it's an option that Kyoutani will readily accept. Plus, does he _really_ want Kyoutani in his room, which he will one thousand percent judge at his own discretion? The only people that go in his room are his mom and Watari. It feels like too much of a commitment.

He opens his mouth to offer to go running - god he hates running - and what comes out is, "Wanna come to my room?" _Well, guess my mouth made that choice for me. Rip in advance to my self esteem._

Kyoutani blinks at him. "Uh, sure?" He's still in polite guest mode, evidently. Normal Kyoutani would never agree to something so fast, especially something from Yahaba's mouth.

He leads him down the hallway, walking extra slowly to stall for time. 

"It's messy," he says, then mentally curses himself out. _Who gives a shit if it's messy? This is Mad Dog we're talking about!_ "Also don't touch anything."

"Yeah, whatever princess," Kyoutani grumbles, somewhat reflecting his normal self. All of that normal self-ness disappears, however, as soon as he walks through Yahaba's bedroom door. Yahaba watches him take everything in with wide eyes, like he's in a museum. 

"Haven't you ever been in a bedroom before?" Yahaba asks, and instantly regrets it. _Sounds weird. Definitely sounds weird._

"You have so much volleyball crap," Kyoutani marvels in a low tone. "Your room's full of it."

"Yeah, of course I do." Now Yahaba's a little peeved at him. "What did you expect? I'm sure your room's no different."

"I've got my own volleyball crap, but you..." He trails off, then shakes his head. "Never mind."

"No, what is it? Say it, Kyoutani."

Maybe it's using his actual name that gets him to spill so easily. "I just never really thought you were all that into volleyball."

Yahaba gapes at him. "What the hell do you mean? I literally have extra practices with you every week. I train my ass off for this team, just like you do."

"I'm not saying you don't." His voice is more defensive now, but he continues. "You're dedicated to it, I can tell. Just doesn't seem like you like it all that much."

"I do-" He stops himself mid-sentence, fuming. On one hand, yeah, he might get annoyed sometimes during practices. And sure he gets tired, everyone gets tired! Everyone except Kyoutani, anyway. Maybe on really early mornings he thinks about staying in bed, but he never actually does! He hasn't missed a practice since his grandmother's funeral when he was a first year.

Despite all of the work it takes, Yahaba still loves volleyball. He still lives for the feeling of setting a perfect ball and watching it get slammed down onto the other side of the court. That's why he spends hours every night watching his videos and compiling his notebooks and getting minimal sleep _especially_ the nights before games. That's his way of enjoying it. That's his way of being dedicated.

But Kyoutani's too different from him. He'd never understand his thinking.

"Don't assume what I like and what I don't," he finally spits out, rubbing down the ends of one of his volleyball posters that's sticking up. "I do like volleyball." Now he sounds like a child. There really is no middle ground.

"Fine," Kyoutani says, clearly not convinced but unwilling to argue this further. "Didn't mean to make it a whole thing."

"Whatever. It's not a whole thing."

"Okay."

"Yeah." 

Yahaba checks his phone, thanking the volleyball gods that it's time to get Rika. "Party's over. Let's get you and your sister home before she thinks we forgot about her."

"I would never."

"I _know._ It was just- god, just follow me."

The ride to get Rika is silent. Then, once she's in the car, it's silent except for her chattering. Yahaba meets Kyoutani's eyes in the mirror once, and the other boy has the audacity to look away. _Bastard. Asshole. Bitch face._

They can't arrive at the house soon enough. Yahaba just wants to get back home, take a shower, and binge volleyball videos until his eyes bleed. _That'll show him how much I like it. Not that I have anything to prove, but that'll show him._

Rika climbs out of the car first, as always, except today Kyoutani stays back for an extra second. Yahaba turns around to look at him, and he meets his eyes this time. Headstrong, always so headstrong. He doesn't even blink as they stare in silence.

"I'm sorry," Kyoutani says suddenly, and rips his eyes away from Yahaba, who blinks in confusion. _Well that was... unexpected._ Yahaba can't remember the last time Kyoutani apologized for anything besides a missed spike. He's not sure it's ever even happened before. 

"It's, uh, fine?" Yahaba replies, too shocked to remain too mad. He knows that he _might've_ overreacted a bit back at the apartment, but he doesn't want to go out and say that, so he simply adds, "See you tomorrow."

Kyoutani nods, then climbs out of the car. _He's so confusing. Nothing he does is consistent or makes any sense._ Honestly, just thinking about Kyoutani makes his head hurt. _What even is he to me?_

When he gets home, he showers, eats dinner, and puts off doing his homework for a few hours. In the meantime, his mom returns from work and calls him into the living room.

"Did Watari come over?" she asks, motioning to the papers and snacks that he left on the carpet by mistake.

"No, just a..." _Damn it, I'm really going to say it, aren't I._ "...friend. School friend."

"Oh, that's nice. Anyone I know?"

 _Yeah, he's the same guy I complained to you for an hour about last year after we lost that game with Karasuno. That bitch._ "Um, I don't think so."

"Well next time he comes over tell him to stay for dinner. I'd love to meet him."

 _This really is my life, huh._ "Sure, okay. I'll keep that in mind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just realized that oikawa to yahaba is like what kageyama is to oikawa. damn the parallels


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> forgot about this for a bit but im here :)

Yahaba, in his own opinion, is a great captain to his juniors.

Sure, he might pay a little more attention to the second years, but he knows the first years well enough. He has their names, numbers, and positions memorized. They're already ranked in his head, from future starter to permanent bench warmer. And he knows what advice to give each of them to help them improve their game.

That being said, he's not all that great at talking to them when they approach him.

"Captain, can I talk to you?" one of the first years asks at the end of Wednesday night practice. _Kojima Nobuo. Spiker. #14. He's the one who always follows Kyoutani around. A little on the short side, but he has time to grow. He just needs to work on his jumps before his spikes. That, and his serving._ "Uh, captain?"

"Right, sorry!" Yahaba says quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sure, you can talk to me. What's up?" He's too caught off guard to play the role of Stern Upperclassman Figure, so now he just sounds like regular Yahaba-after-being-scolded-for-spacing-out-in-class.

Kojima shuffles his feet, looking over to the side. Yahaba follows his gaze and finds the target to be Kyoutani, stacking cones from one of their drills. For the first year's sake, he suppresses his smile. _Whatever Kyoutani did in his past life to deserve such a faithful follower, I'll never be able to tell._

"I want to get better at volleyball!" he says suddenly, forcefully dragging Yahaba's gaze back to him with the shock of it. "I was wondering if you could help me practice more, with my spikes and stuff. I know you're a third year and busy and all that, so if you can't help me, can you tell me who else I should practice with, or how I can practice by myself?"

Yahaba covers his mouth with his hand, sighing discreetly. The kid's right; he _is_ busy, busier than ever before. He has university entrance exams, along with his regular school exams, and that's not even mentioning how much time captaining a volleyball team takes up. He barely has time to sleep at night, let alone enjoy himself. Plus, he still has extra spiking practice with Kyoutani...

_Extra spiking practice. That's what the kid wants, right?_

"Would you be available tonight?" he asks, sparing another glance towards Kyoutani. _He wouldn't mind, right? Well it doesn't matter either way. He'll deal with it, and if he doesn't want to, then I'll apologize tomorrow. Screw him._ "I'm staying behind today to practice serving to another spiker, so you can join in if you want."

Kojima's eyes go huge. "Is the other spiker Kyoutani?" he whispers, and Yahaba can't help but snort at that. 

"Yeah, it is. Is that alright with you?" He sees the resounding yes more than he hears it. "Okay, we're going to start in five minutes. In the meantime, uh, text your parents or something. I'll tell Kyoutani you're coming."

He leaves the first year by the bleachers, briskly walking to Kyoutani's position by the net. 

"Are we starting now, or are we waiting for the first year to leave?" he asks, jerking his head towards Kojima. "Don't think it matters if he's here when we start."

 _Oh boy._ "Funny story, actually," Yahaba starts, the token template for the beginning of a story that is anything but funny. "He's actually staying behind today to practice with us? Since he asked me if he could practice more and I said yes? I figured it would be okay because the more the merrier?" _I really have to stop phrasing everything I say as a question._

He sees Kyoutani's jaw clench, then release. "When did you decide all of this?" he asks, lowering his voice now.

"Two minutes ago? I wasn't trying to hide it, I swear, it was just really last minute. Besides, the kid loves you. He's like the only person on the _team_ who loves you. If anything, you should be grateful I brought him along."

Before Kyoutani can respond to that, the kid jogs over, sticking his phone in his pocket.

"My dad said he'll pick me up in an hour," he says to Yahaba, then nervously looks over at Kyoutani, eyes big and innocent. Yahaba elbows him in the side, a silent _you can't be mean to that face, he's only a baby._ And somehow, Kyoutani seems to pick up on it.

"You wanna get better at your spikes?" he asks, and Kojima nods rapidly. "Then watch Yahaba set to me first, and then you can try it out. Good with you?"

"Yes sir," Kojima replies, smiling gratefully. "Thank you for letting me be here."

"It's a free country. Not my gym, either," Kyoutani says, and his hands twitch at his sides. "You should thank Yahaba more than me. I'm gonna finish setting up the net." He practically runs to the other side of the net, finagling with bits and pieces that are already in their proper positions. Thankfully, Kojima appears to be too starstruck to notice the obvious getaway.

"I'll... help Kyoutani with the net," he says suddenly. "Feel free to pick up a ball and practice your serves in the meantime." 

"Alright!" Kojima says cheerily, and runs to a different net to practice. _What a little angel. Kyoutani truly doesn't deserve him._

He meanders over to where Kyoutani's standing, not even pretending to be doing anything anymore. 

"Sooooo how's it going?" he asks, tugging on the bottom of the net. He knows Kyoutani isn't _really_ mad about Kojima coming - probably - but he still feels obligated to check on him. 

Kyoutani gives him a dead-fish glare. "Oh, it's going great," he says flatly, pulling on one of the chains keeping the net up. "Fucking peachy."

"Hey, keep your voice down," he cautions. "Also watch your language in front of the baby."

"The baby?"

"Kojima. The first year."

"He's not a baby, he's only two years younger than us." They both watch Kojima practice his serves for a moment, Yahaba gives him a thumbs up, and then they turn back to each other. "He's almost as tall as Watari."

"That doesn't mean a thing. Watari's a shorty." _Sorry Watari._ "But that isn't the point. Are you really angry that I invited him here? It's only this once, and he's a nice kid. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal." He might be being a little too considerate regarding Kyoutani's Extreme Antisocial Behavior, but he can't blame anyone but himself in case the boy does erupt.

"Jesus, Yahaba, I'm fine." He puffs up his cheeks in a way that's too adorable for someone as grumpy as him, and exhales hard. "Woulda been nice to get a heads up, but I'm able to be around people. I'm not a hermit, not like you think I am. If I can tutor you once a week, then I can handle anyone."

"Rude and uncalled for," Yahaba complains, but only half-heartedly. "So you're actually not mad? For real actually?"

"I'm going to punch your face in if you keep asking."

"I'll take that as a yes!" 

He calls Kojima over, and starts his usual spiking practice with Kyoutani. They warm up for a bit first, and then move on to hard core spikes. After about fifteen, he calls Kojima up from his seat to try. 

"You saw how Kyoutani ran to the ball, right?" he asks. "He stopped early, and propelled himself forward a little with his jump to give his spike more power, as opposed to just jumping vertically. Can you try that?"

"Sure," Kojima says, running back to his position. "Ready when you are!"

Setting to him isn't nearly as satisfying as setting to Kyoutani. They aren't in sync like he and Kyoutani are, and Kojima is no Olympian, so he misses a good number of spikes. Sometimes Yahaba gives him critique, and other times Kyoutani interrupts to give his own two cents. It irks him a little that Kojima very obviously listens to Kyoutani more than him - after all, he's the _captain_ \- but he can't fault the kid too much for it. Kyoutani is a shining star, a solid volleyball behemoth. Yahaba is... a high schooler.

Kyoutani, on his part, is not as much of a closed off asshole as Yahaba had expected. Sure, he doesn't talk besides for the occasional piece of advice, and most of his attention is spent on his own spikes rather than Kojima's, but Yahaba can tell that he's trying. And as long as he's not going off on the kid, he really has nothing to complain about. 

"Kyoutani, what do you think was up with his last spike?" Yahaba asks at one point, snapping the other to attention. Kojima bounces on his heels, looking from the ball to Kyoutani and back again.

"Didn't hit the palm," he responds, almost automatically. "It's hard to give the spike more power when it's with your fingertips, so that's why it went to the side instead of straight down."

"Got it!" _Kojima would make a good army recruit. Well, only with Kyoutani as the commander._ "Thank you!"

"Mmhm," Kyoutani says, nodding. "Do that." His attention is diverted to his water bottle, and Yahaba stops counting in his head. _That was twelve seconds of eye contact. Impressive for him._

He doesn't get to practice any of his special moves with Kyoutani, but there's always time for that later. They got good practice in anyway, he can tell by the satisfying pain in his triceps. He doesn't feel guilty at all as he sees Kojima off, making sure he gets in his dad's car alright before walking back into the gym.

"Are you trying to adopt him?" Kyoutani asks, watching the doorway. "He's fifteen-"

"As captain, it's my responsibility to make sure everyone on the team gets home safely," Yahaba recites with an obsequious grin. "I live to serve."

"Yeah yeah, alright," Kyoutani says with an eye roll. "Save that for your graduation speech."

They pack up the net together, and Kyoutani's halfway out the door when he calls out, "By the way, I can't do extra practice next week. I'm not gonna be around."

Yahaba is all ears. "Where are you going to be?" he asks. "Family function? Cleaning your room? Practicing even more volleyball?"

"Actually, I have a party," Kyoutani says, and Yahaba watches his smirk grow as his own incredulous expression spreads. "A _real_ party."

"No way. Think of a more believable excuse. It's your grandma's anniversary dinner, isn't it. Or your little sister's recital."

"I'm serious," he says, pulling out his phone. "It's my old friend's birthday, and if I miss it then everyone will be on my ass for weeks."

 _Old friend? Birthday? Everyone????_ "I have so many questions," Yahaba says, peering over his shoulder. Sure enough, in a group chat titled "Can Muramoto PLEASE get a waffle?" he sees an invite for somebody named Makino's birthday party, followed by four responses from different people. _Does Kyoutani actually-_

"I have friends outside of school, ya know," he says, interrupting his thought. "People aren't as intimidated by me when they don't see me play volleyball, so most of my friends aren't from school. I did say I'm not a hermit."

"I knew that," Yahaba lies. "Everybody has friends." _He's in a group chat. Kyoutani Kentarou is in a group chat with a meme for a name. Someone call the medics._ "You've never mentioned these friends before, though."

"Why would I? I barely see them in person anyway, since they all go to different schools." 

"Still, not even a passing mention of them? Sounds sketchy." His head is still spinning from information overload. It's all he can do to keep up his end of the conversation.

"You still don't believe me," Kyoutani says, but he looks more amused than angry. "Fine. Come to the party, then. You can see my friends with your own eyes."

 _Whoa whoa whoa. This is moving too fast._ "I don't even know these people, I can't just show up to someone's birthday party uninvited," he says, waving his hands emphatically. _What kind of people would Kyoutani even be friends with? Are they all math nerds, or are they delinquents?_

"It's not a small party," Kyoutani replies. "There'll be loads of people there. I'll tell Makino in advance, she won't make a big deal of it." He blinks. "Unless you're intimidated, of course. I always thought you were a social butterfly, but if you're not..."

 _How the hell did the tables turn so violently?_ "I've been to a good amount of parties in my day," Yahaba sniffs. The total amount is three, four if you count the one where he only stayed for ten minutes, but it's a lot more than he ever thought Kyoutani went to. "And I'm not scared of your friends."

"Good. You'll drive us both, then?"

"Sure. What time is the party?"

"Six. It'll only be a few hours, and I never stay long since I don't drink."

"Great. Not that I couldn't do all night, but it's whatever for me."

"I'm sure." Kyoutani's outright smiling at this point. "Looking forward to it." He grabs his bag and tosses it over his shoulder, striding out of the gym.

"Same here!" Yahaba shouts after him, fumbling for his own possessions. "It'll be a blast!" 

He bangs his head on the steering wheel no less than four times when he makes it to his car, a little bit of his soul leaving his body with every crash. " _It'll be a blast." Lord save me, what did I just sign up for?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that escalated quickly
> 
> kyoutani has friends! a treatise by Me. i think he deserves some
> 
> also kojima is Baby. thank you for coming to my ted talk. i will try to include him more later
> 
> will yahaba survive a party thrown by Kyoutani's friends? find out next episode!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man imagine being an aoba johsai second year and having gone from oikawa and iwaizumi to yahaba and kyoutani. like ???? groundhog day???? the parallels????

One week later, Yahaba finds himself in front of his closet mirror, fixing his hair for a party where he knows for a fact it will get messed up again.

_Why am I even going to this? To prove a point? I already know Kyoutani's friends are real, so why should I go and meet them? I wasn't even technically invited. Kyoutani's just bringing me along... why? To make me uncomfortable, probably._

_Well screw that. I'm going to be so comfortable, I'm going to steal all of his friends. And then_ he'll _be the out of place one. Yeah._

With that, he pulls on the only hoodie he owns and fixes his hair one more time. _Perfect._ He looks like the epitome of chill high school-dom: hoodie, jeans, sneakers. Nothing that he cares about ruining. 

He opens his phone to Kyoutani's contact, since he has his number now. He got it during his tutoring session on Monday, for convenience's sake, although he hasn't texted it yet. _What to say, what to say... I'll keep it short and simple._

 **Me:** Ready?

Kyoutani's response comes a minute later.

 **Kyoutani:** In the shower. Be out in a minute

His texts are abrupt and to the point, like Kyoutani himself. Yahaba didn't know what he expected. _A few emojis would've been nice. Whatever. I'll drive over in the meantime._

His mom isn't home, so he texts her that he's leaving as he walks out. It's warm out, so he doesn't grab a jacket for the ride.

When he reaches Kyoutani's house, he texts him that he's there, but doesn't get a response. _Classic Kyoutani. Constantly getting on my nerves._ He texts again, then tries calling. No answer. _Screw it all. I'm going to get him myself._

He parks his car in the driveway, then approaches the front door. The closer he gets, the more intimidating it becomes. He's never been this close to Kyoutani's house. Usually he just drops the two of them in the front and leaves. 

Finally, mustering up all of his courage, he knocks on the door, instinctively taking a step back. He hopes that Rika will answer it, or maybe Kyoutani himself. Anybody but Kyoutani's mother, who makes him nervous with her presence.

The door does open, but it's no one he recognizes on the other side. It's a girl, probably around thirteen, with cropped dark hair and ringed eyes. _Another sister, then._

"Hi, is Kyoutani here?" he asks, shifting from foot to foot.

She gives him an unimpressed look. "Which one?"

 _Right._ "Um, Kentarou?" 

"Who're you?" She reminds him a lot more of the older Kyoutani than Rika in the sense that she radiates displeasure, but he can probably chalk that up to early teenage moodiness. _I hope Rika doesn't end up like her brother when she grows up._

"I'm Yahaba." He doesn't know how much he should elaborate - volleyball? tutoring? - so he adds, "I drive him and Rika on Mondays."

"Oh. So you're here to pick him up. Why didn't you say so?" She glances behind her and says, "One sec," leaving him alone in the open doorway. While making himself comfortable on the doormat, Yahaba can't help but notice how _big_ the inside of the house is. _Maybe he has a whole gym in here and that's how he stays so fit._ He's not snooping, but he can see all the way down to the kitchen, and it's also _massive._

"Coming, coming," he hears Kyoutani call from somewhere inside, and a moment later, the boy himself appears. He's also wearing a hoodie, though he matched it with a pair of sweatpants. "Sorry you had to wait. Didn't check my phone until now."

"Alright, I'll let it slide this once," Yahaba says. "It's weird seeing you out of our school uniform."

"You see me in my gym clothes like every day. Plus our jerseys."

"Not the same."

They climb into Yahaba's car, and he puts in the address that Kyoutani provides.

"By the way," he says, buckling in, "I didn't tell my mom about the party, so don't bring it up in front of her or Rika, alright?" 

Yahaba shoots him a side eyed glance. "Where does she think you're gonna be tonight, then?" 

"Studying. Or practicing volleyball. She thinks I'm going to your place." He leans back in the seat. "She doesn't like it when I go out on school nights, and she thinks that all of them are crazy, so I had to lie to her."

"Why does she think they're crazy?" Yahaba suddenly gets an image of tattooed, pierced thugs with dyed hair doing drugs at whatever party he's about to attend.

Kyoutani points to his head. "They're the ones who told me to get my hair done like this after I got into Aoba Johsai."

"And you went along with it?" He had been wondering for a while how a goodie two shoes like Kyoutani ended up with hair like that, but never thought it the right time to ask.

"Now you're starting to sound like my mom. I was in a bad mood that day, and I wanted to do something to piss her off. My friends just gave me the suggestion."

"Alright, I get that part kinda," Yahaba says, "but how come your hair's still like that now?"

"I like the look. Plus, I'm a straight A student on a winning volleyball team, so as much as she snaps at me for it, she can't stop me from doing my hair like this. It's my one act of rebellion. Why, you don't like it?"

Yahaba gives the damp hair a once over. "The stripes are a little much, in my opinion."

"Eh, who cares what you think?"

They reach the house, which thankfully looks about normal. The only thing that indicates a party is the line of cars in the front. 

"I met your other sister, by the way," Yahaba says as he parks. "Short black hair, Kyoutani glare on her face, looks like a middle schooler."

"Oh, that's Ume," Kyoutani snorts. "She's a real grump. Barely leaves her room except to get food."

"And here I was thinking you were the only Kyoutani with an attitude problem," Yahaba says, elbowing him in the side. 

"Shut up."

He follows him to the front door, and Kyoutani texts his friend that they're here.

"Your friends know I'm coming, right?" Yahaba asks.

"Yep." For some reason, this makes him grimace. "Don't let them bother you too much. If they say anything dumb, just ignore them. They talk a lot."

The door opens, and a girl with long brown hair is standing on the other side. 

"You finally made it, asshole," she says, eyes squinted in fake annoyance. At least, Yahaba hopes that it's fake. "But you still had time to take a whole ass shower before the party."

"I had volleyball practice before," Kyoutani replies. "Sue me. I didn't want to stink up your whole house."

"You stink anyway." She looks past him to Yahaba, and her eyes light up. "Is this your friend from your fancy volleyball school?"

Before Yahaba can respond, Kyoutani says, "Yeah, that's Yahaba. He's driving, so he's not going to drink tonight."

"That's alright," the girl says, eyes sparkling. "We can have fun with him anyway. I'm Makino, by the way. It's my party."

"Oh, happy birthday," Yahaba says. "Uh, thanks for having me?"

She flashes him a smile. "You're too polite for Kyoutani. Come on in, both of you."

Yahaba follows Kyoutani inside, sticking close to him. Contrary to the "load of people" that Kyoutani had promised, there seems to be only ten of them in total scattered throughout the main floor. A few of them hang on the couch, watching something on one of their phones. There's a table cluttered with beer bottles, which a couple of people gather around. Makino grabs a beer and heads to the couch, so Kyoutani and Yahaba head there too.

"I'll introduce you to them in order of most sane to least sane," Kyoutani says. "Over there is Muramoto, Funai, Tone, and Tsuji."

"Tone's dating Tsuji," Makino chimes in. "It's kinda gross, actually. Many a movie night has been ruined by the two of them sucking face."

"We can hear you," Tone says without looking up. He flashes her the middle finger, but she just sticks out her tongue.

"Yeah, well that's what you get for being boring over there."

"Moving on," Kyoutani interrupts, annoyed. "Nitta is over there. Igarashi and Mori are the two by the table, and Shinohara and Kon are the ones on the carpet."

"Nice to meetcha," either Igarashi or Mori - he's really having a hard time keeping the names together - says, and Yahaba waves. 

"You don't have to remember any of their names," Makino supplies helpfully. "Sometimes I forget them too. I'm just too damn popular to keep track of all of my fans."

"She's lying, she's paying us to be here," one of the girls - Nitta, he thinks - says, throwing a pillow at her. Makino dodges it, grinning all the while. 

"And you already know Makino. Remember when I said that my friends are insane?" Kyoutani whispers, leaning back on the couch. "Yeah, it's mostly just her."

"Don't talk shit about me to Yahaba," Makino says, batting him with a pillow. "Especially at my birthday party."

Yahaba, all the while, hasn't said a word. He's still surprised at how normal they all are. Besides for Makino, who has blonde highlights, Kyoutani's the only one with dyed hair. _Out of all of them,_ he's _the one who looks the most delinquent-like._ And there isn't any alcohol stronger than beer around.

Plus, there's the whole matter of his relationship with Makino. Yahaba has never seen him look so comfortable with someone outside of his family before, and they seem to have a rapport going that Kyoutani is used to. _Kyoutani would tell me if he had a girlfriend, right? No, who am I kidding. He's the biggest closed book on the planet. He barely let me meet his sister._

"Is there something between you and Makino?" he asks in what he hopes is a quiet enough voice. Kyoutani's eyes narrow, and he opens his mouth to say something, but Makino answers for him.

"I see where you might've gotten confused," she says, smiling widely. _Does this girl have sonic hearing or something?_ "I mean, I _am_ the full package: looks, brains, personality-"

"Too much personality, not enough brains," Nitta interrupts, and Makino sits on her. 

" _Anyway,_ you're funny, Yahaba, but no. We both know that Kentarou here is way too-"

"Busy with volleyball," Kyoutani cuts her off loudly. His ears are burning again, Yahaba can see it. "Too busy to date. Also anyone who would date Makino has horrible taste. And don't call me Kentarou."

"I think you broke Kyoutani," Yahaba says, and he hears someone laugh from the beer table. Kyoutani glares at him, but it isn't his usual glare. It's the same type he gave him in his mom's car. _Panicked._

Makino stares for a moment, confused, and then laughs too, although it sounds forced. "Kyoutani breaks too easily. It's why I love making fun of him. Kyoutani, come help me get the snacks from the kitchen, will ya?"

"Do I have a choice?" Kyoutani asks, but he's already standing up.

"Nope!" 

The two of them head off, and Yahaba quickly realizes that that leaves him missing both of his social lifelines. Before he can start overthinking things, though, one of the guys on the couch beckons him over.

"I'm Funai," he says before Yahaba can ask. "Sorry about Makino. She's an acquired taste."

"No, she's fine," he replies. She reminds him of Oikawa, and he's well used to interacting with Oikawa types. After all, he had been his upperclassman (and friend, perhaps) for two years now. "Honestly, from the way Kyoutani never mentioned you guys, I expected much worse." _Should I have said that? Is it too soon to make deprecating jokes?_

But Funai only laughs, and the two on the carpet move in closer to hear the conversation.

"That's fair. You play volleyball with him, right?" Yahaba nods. "That's cool. Maybe we'll come see one of your games when you start playing the tournament."

"Kyoutani never lets us come, but if we're coming for _you..._ " the guy on the carpet says with a conspiring smile, and reintroduces himself as Kon. His hair is shaved at the sides, but long in the middle. _A real pompadour._

Just thinking about the interhigh tournament makes Yahaba's stomach turn, but he tries to smile.

"Sure," he says, "the more the merrier. How did you guys become friends with him, anyway?" Kyoutani had mentioned that most of his friends came from out of school, but he didn't say where he actually met them.

"Our parents are family friends," Muramoto says. He only remembers his name because the boy looks similar to Watari. "Most of us went to middle school together, so I just invited Kyoutani to hang with us."

"Careful, Yahaba," Makino says, returning from the kitchen with an armful of chip bags. Behind her, Kyoutani follows, carrying two bowls of popcorn and a large bag of rice crackers, presumably for himself. "We pick up strays easy."

"Don't call him a stray," Nitta - who Yahaba is starting to suspect is her best friend based on how often she calls her out - says. "Not everyone needs to be friend adopted because they flipped off their entire grade at graduation."

"They deserved it! You know they deserved it."

"Is that really relevant?" Kon asks, and dodges the pillow easily.

"At this rate he'll never want to come back here," Kyoutani says, sitting back down beside Yahaba. The panic in his voice from before is gone, leaving Yahaba to only wonder what triggered it in the first place. _Does he like her? Does he like someone else here?_ Kyoutani doesn't seem like the type to hesitate before doing anything, so what would be stopping him? "Can we start the movie?"

"What movie?" Yahaba asks.

"It's Makino's choice, since it's her birthday," Funai says, although he sounds a bit strained. "So it could either be a childhood nostalgia movie or gritty horror."

"I'll let Yahaba decide," she says, turning to him. "Childhood nostalgia, or gritty horror?"

"I like horror," he says, and half of the people in the room groan. By now, most of them are crammed onto the couch, with a few spread out on the carpet. Yahaba is pressed between Kyoutani and Funai, and he leans back to make more room for himself. "Sorry, I don't care either way. We can watch childhood nostalgia."

"Nope, too late," Makino says gleefully, and grabs the remote. "Now nobody will be able to blame me for their nightmares tomorrow." She scrolls through her list, settling on a generic slasher film. She jumps up from the couch, grabs another beer for herself, and pops it open. A few more people go to do the same. "Now the party can _really_ start."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i am introducing like 10 ocs. no you don't need to remember all of their names or anything. only a few will actually be significant 
> 
> can you tell how much i love makino? anime is overflowing with confident self absorbed male characters (and i love them) but there aren't enough female characters like that
> 
> i know you guys were probably expecting kyoutani to have The Most Insane Friends but i feel like kyoutani would never roll with that. so its less of a real party and more of a hangout. 
> 
> if there are checkpoint marks, then this is the point where kyoutani and yahaba are officially friends! neither of them will say it out loud, but it's there. halfway to lovers now :)

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: laurenshappenstobemyhusband
> 
> this was originally gonna be a one shot but the draft is being deleted in 10 minutes so... let me know what you guys think so far!


End file.
